My brother Todd mentioned to me about Royal Blood a ways back and told me to check em out at which time I went “Yeah Yeah Yeah” and never did..
This past June when we were driving to go see Iron Maiden at one point on Sirius Satellite Radio one of the Bloods tracks came on which Todd told me again “You should seriously listen to these guys as there right up your alley” Instead of yeah yeahing my bother I made a note of it as I liked the dudes voice and the amped up distorted/fuzzed out rock guitar…
So I made a mental note to actually take Todd’s advice and check out Royal Blood….
Than I forgot…
Until…
I was cruising iTunes and sitting in the Rock Category under Best Sellers was Royal Blood with their current 2017 release How Did We Get So Dark.
Going on what memory cell I have left I figured if I purchased Royal Blood and this album stunk it would give me no reason to ever trust my brother again! Musically speaking that is….Ha!
But Holy Crap! What a record……
First of all you gotta like these guys and there set up! A dynamic duo! Just two dudes making some serious Rock!
Mike Kerr- vocals/bass/guitar/Keys
Ben Thatcher-drums and piano
From the opening track of the title track How Did We Get So Dark i was hooked by the cool rock voice of Kerr and the guitar/bass tone that resonates throughout this album that clocks in at just under 35 minutes! Another smart move 10 tracks in total. Perfect for my listening span…. How Did We Get So Dark is a great tune! Grabs your attention right away with that beat of the drums set forth by Thatcher. Better yet the pre chorus just drips with coolness. Posted the video at the top of this post! Crank it!
Nice straight ahead groove with the drums leading the charge on I Only Lie When I Love You. It’s cool that these guys can make this kind of amped up rock with just two fella’s.
Hook,Line & Sinker features a ton of rock guitar doing a ton of riffing and man the chorus just is a wall of great rock! These guys sound heavy as they make a wall of cool rock noise.
The rest of the tunes on this album follow the same formula as these guys have found their niche and are sticking to it…
Check out the track Lights Out below….
Loud Garage Like Rock Chops with Super Duper Zep soundalike drums. Now I’m not comparing Thatcher to Bonzo I’m just saying the drums do not take a back seat in the sonic department!
As we all know my deal when it comes to new bands it takes something really rocking to get my attention out of the 70’s/80’s Hard Rock music scene but Royal Blood take their loud garage distorted like Rawk and give me a hard swift kick in the ass!
Good Call Todd!
deKe's Vinyl Reviews & More... 
They’re so good live too.
Nice write up. I’m glad your bro steered you onto them.
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Thanks Bop! Cool..where and when did you see them live?
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Two dudes making some quality Rock sounds good to me Deke!
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Plus they only have to split the cash two ways….hahaha…
Check these guys out Geoff!
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How Did We Get So Dark? More like, How DId I Not Get This Already! Oh wait, I know…CD Japan might have bonus tracks.
As you may know I love these guys and bought the Japanese of the first album.
Glad Todd talked you into checking out Royal Blood. Personally, Lights Out hasn’t hit me like “Figure It Out” did on the first album, but I will definitely be getting this in one form or another. Great review!
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Thanks Man!
These guys are wicked good! A new different sound of Rawk for these old ears!
Sometimes this OL Buzzard has to listen to his young bro….glad I did eventually …..haha
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For an old buzzard you manage to keep up with a lot of the current bands! Alter Bridge, Rival Sons…
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Thank you Todd, and Deke, for sending me in the direction of this band!
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Great review, Deke. A friend of mine was telling me this was a great album… though I’ve been reluctant to jump in cause I found them a bit dull. Their first album just didn’t do much for me. He assured me this one is worth my time… and you’ve done the same… so maybe I’ll need to reassess my stance on them.
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