SOUND BITES

When you're a young band and you make it big with your debut, especially in the UK, there is a special kind of pressure in approaching what to do next. On one hand, you've got all of these new fans and corporate interests (read: your record label, management, advertising agencies etc.) pleading to stay the course, don't fix what's not broken and ride your momentum all the way to the bank. On the other hand, there's often the temptation on the artists' side to grow the sound, reach for the fringes and fulfill an artistic destiny that couldn't happen the first time out for whatever reason, be it financial limitations, immaturity or otherwise. So, what of Royal Blood, then? Hailed in certain circles as saviours of rock and derided as pale imitations of superior bands in others, there's a strong case for both sticking with what brought you to the dance and proving to the naysayers that you're more than a derivative amalgam of Death From Above and Que...

Earlier this year, I reviewed the debut EP by Royal Blood, the hard rocking UK duo that's earned the seal of approval from everyone from Arctic Monkeys to Jimmy Page. With such high praise already heaped upon them, it was going to be hard for their full-length debut to live up to the hype. To be frank, it doesn't, but it's not for lack of promise. Using minimal overdubs and no guitars (all that noise is being made by bass and drums), Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher have managed nonetheless to craft one of the year's most greasy, loud records. And yes, I'm going to harp on loud mastering again; as is sign o' the times, this album is given the old "in the red" treatment, with Thatcher's drums often distorting and sucking a good chunk of the life out of the songs. If you're looking for maximum enjoyment (from this record and I'm assuming all rock music in general going forward), burn your headphones, then bury them in the backyard. Strictly music...

I first reported on Royal Blood way back on January 10 upon my first encounter with their energetic, bombastic debut single Out Of The Black . Now, with the buzz machine humming behind them (along with glowing support from no less than Arctic Monkeys), they're already on the fast track in their native United Kingdom. Word is starting to get around in North America, which is where the Out Of The Black EP comes in (it's only available in EP form here). While four songs isn't necessarily a good enough sample size to base a band on, the four songs on this EP are certainly good enough to drum up interest. Admittedly, the fifteen minutes you get from Royal Blood isn't exactly a cornucopia of ideas; it's all pretty much slight variations on sludgy blues rock. Plus, they do share a certain amount of musical DNA with The White Stripes and The Black Keys, although I suspect a lot of lazy journalists base most of these comparisons on the fact that they're a duo. What se...