For about as long as I've been into music, and doubtless longer than that, there's been the tiresome debate of "is rock dead in the UK?" or "are guitar bands still interesting/relevant/sexy/etc?" To which, I'd always answer "no," and "far as I'm concerned, and who cares if you like them?"
Now, it is the unfortunate and, really, rather irritating case that by the UK rock scene, journalism really means the London music label scene, with maybe some Manchester or Brighton thrown in for a little diversity when the baying hordes of malcontent come knocking on the gilded gates of Universal brandishing burning guitar-pitchfork hybrids. And Royal Blood are one of these Brighton-based wildcards in the world of mainstream music. They're one bassist and one drummer, which ticks some boxes my end, as I'm a bassist and I'm very partial to Death From Above 1979 and the two-bassists-one-drummer band Exit_International.
For my sins, I hadn't heard of Royal Blood until a few days back, when the record shop I work in got a shipment of their album in on LP. Then, I noticed the Marmite-like effect they were having on some goth acquaintances of mine, who all liked the cover art but were having problems with the music.
So, I decided to acquaint myself with the umpteenth saviours of UK rock.
In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. They weren't the anaemic pile of deflated bollocks I was expecting them to be, given that the High BloodPressured Burbledewurbles were their chart success comparisons. Unlike Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall's Bumblebees, the Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines, Kasabian, or the rest, Royal Blood can write riffs. GOOD RIFFS. The kind of riffs that can lead daughters astray and grow hair on chests. Big, meaty, blues-tinted riffs, with slick pop melodies glossing the sections in between.
Just. Riffs.
RIFFS.
RIFFSRIFFSRIFFSRIFFSRIFFS
RIFFS.
Ahem. Anyway, the next thing that I was really pleased by is how tight they are. Of course, if you're a two-piece, you have to be tighter than my best jeans after a rainstorm, but these guys are that tight, with almost surgical precision. Once upon a time, it was required that all bands be tight as a cat's claws in an uncomfortable place, but that no longer seems to be the norm. In a world where sounding like you've been out on the piss all week without rehearsing is considered acceptable, it is good to hear a band that sound like they know each other on a first-name basis.
The songs themselves aren't a particularly diverse bunch, but with the album clocking in at just over half an hour, this can be forgiven. Generally, they all revolve around cement-mixer riffs and smouldering pop hooks, which might explain why they've garnered such a buzz, as that's two large crowd-pleasers out the way. There's an aura of self-confidence and sleaze around the album too. The bass has had its mids and trebles and roaring distortion pushed up until it resembles Screamin' Jay Hawkins' voice more than it does a bass guitar, and the tempo and swing of most of the tracks here are permanently set to "swagger." And y'know what? I like that. A rock band who aren't afraid of being a big, dumb, rock band, with loads of big, dumb, rock songs. Why should we be so afraid of the big dumb rock? Why do we put it away when the guests come over? It's no more offensive than ethereally sighing indie or whatever's going on in the realms of sub-bass dance these days, surely?
I suppose, however, that's where the issues I have with Royal Blood creep in. While I'm by no means ashamed of the big, dumb rock, I'm not sure if I condone the idea that the big, dumb rock that is saving today's scene sounds the same as the big, dumb rock that's been coming out of the States for the past ten or twenty years. It's not exactly a huge leap into interesting waters.
The other main criticism I'd level against this album is that it really highlights the UK rock mainstream's utter inability to maintain good songwriting as soon as it's faced with a decent sonic punch. I'm willing to let it slide this time given the quality of the riffs, but every song sounds the same, apart from one or two moments. God forbid the next album contain power ballads, but perhaps some diversity in tone and speed and melody could be in order on the next album. Hints of spontaneity beyond the riff-verse-chorus-chorus formula?
My boyfriend's verdict on all this is that the UK music press is a load of xenophobic bollocks that navel-gazes so much that its head has become lodged in its lower bowels somewhere, and to an extent, that's true. There's a lot of phenomenal rock revival bands that are reinventing the wheel coming from all over the world currently, many of which are, when all is said and done, better that Royal Blood. The other thing my boyfriend says is "why should I listen to them if they're not as good as Cream?" Which I don't necessarily agree with, but I can see the logic in. There were better bands drifting around. In fact, there are better bands doing similar stuff drifting about right now. But that's not to decry what is, really, a good album if you're into the big, dumb rock. And I'm quite happy to sit back and allow Royal Blood to show some people that the UK mainstream isn't all about autotune if that's what it takes. At least they've got some good tracks.
To proclaim Royal Blood the second coming of sliced bread, as the charts and the press seem to be doing is, in a way, xenophobic given the wealth of great rock out there right now. It's also slightly deaf to the many, many bands across the UK that are doing rock-er things, more interesting things, or just something a bit different from the norm. And they are categorically not channelling Led Zepellin, you weird, weird people. Stop saying that every time someone holds a guitar the right way up.
But you know what? At the end of the day, it's really, really nice to hear a good, accomplished rock album that's full of power and is gloriously unpretentious, and know that people are paying attention to it. Well done, Royal Blood. You've made a good album in a genre whose mainstream is so abysmal, your actually-making-an-effort has been applauded as tantric sex in a bass amp. Keep up the good work and keep getting better.
As for the rest of you lot, please pay attention to something other than BBC Radio 2 and the world of lad-rock. There's stuff like this and better out there.
