Russell HughesRoyal Republic – Club Majesty (Nuclear Blast)
Royal Republic are newly signed to Nuclear Blast Records, which makes sense because everything they do is about having a blast.
And that might have taken them away from their initial rock ‘n roll sound that first attracted their initial audience to them. Songs like Tommy Gun and Underwear were brash examples of silly guitar music played to its very best potential.
The only time the Swedes really get close to that on Club Majesty is with closer Bulldog, a tune about the goodest of all the good boys.
Royal Republic have taken their talents in a more pop rock way, grooves have replaced big rock hooks and there seems to be a new seriousness to the work that was missing before. And that’s not to say it’s bad, it’s just different.
But this band seem to have an endless talent for producing music that grips you with their talent and charisma, and Club Majesty has all of the listenable aspects that makes their previous work such a bloody breeze to play.
This new record has added some delicious brass elements and a jazzier style. Blunt Force Trauma adds some swing to the band’s natural swagger while singer Adam Grahn’s voice takes the power up the few notches.
Royal Republic are all highly trained musicians and that, too, is evident. Fortune Favours is a darker, deeper, more primal beast while album opener Fireman & Dancer could have been injected straight into Uma Thurman’s heart to get it started again on Pulp Fiction.
Sure the subjects have remained largely the same, but that’s just the same stuff that drives normal human beings throughout the day so they get a free pass with that.
This band are already one of the most effortlessly engaging live acts around, and Club Majesty is made to be performed that way. As you listen to it, you can already image Grahn sashaying around the stage and inciting the kind of movement that made the puritans flee Europe.