Royal Republic - We Are the Royal
Released January 25th, 2010
Adam Grahn, Hannes Irengård, Jonas Almén, Per Andreasson
Genre: Garage / Alternative Rock
This is one of my guilty pleasure bands.The only way I can describe this band is they're like a mix between Royal Blood, the Killers, and Muse but all of their songs are so ridiculously silly, that I can't quite take them seriously. They have some absolute banger punk rock songs, and most of them are completely strange. You'll see what I mean below. I recommend this band a lot if you're here for a good time, but not a serious time.
Thoughts & Feelings?
This album makes me feel like I'm walking down the street (line, haha) but I took a wrong turn and ended up in an alley painted with these bright rainbow colours, and I'm a little intrigued to pursue further. As soon as I start following the colours, everything goes fucking crazy. It's like I've entered a god damn zoo of people acting like animals running around and I'm like what the fuck? This honestly feels like a fever dream.
I say that in the best way possible. This album and this band is SO weird, but so full of life and energy. Please give this album a chance, you probably won't regret it. This band changes a little bit from being this alternative rock / punk in the early years to more of a pop style later in their career, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. We'll get to that when we eventually review those albums. This album is great and is honestly so much fun to listen to. It felt like 10 minutes went by, listening to this album. Super easy to groove and jam to this masterpiece.
Smash or Pass?
The Royal - SMASH. This song is going to dictate the rest of the album. It's loud and fast and in your face with how much fun they're about to be. This is the perfect introduction song. This is the song that is yelling "This is us, get used to it cause we're gonna fuck your brains out". I love the guitar in this song, it's so unique. Thank you Sweden, I'm ready for this band to stick around. I also absolutely LOVE when songs transition into other songs.
Presidents Daughter - SMASH AS FUCK. This song is SO FUCKING WEIRD. This is what I'm talking about. This song is such a fucking groovy beat but what the fuck? The entire song is about wanting to fuck the presidents daughter cause she's rich and hot apparently? No idea what president Adam is talking about but whatever. This song is super groovy and fun. Again with the cool guitar lines underneath the singing. Super fun.
Walking Down the Line - SMAASSHH AS FUUCCCKKK, this is probably my favourite song on this album. Listen to this one with headphones if you can, it's so sick how the guitars go back and forth ear to ear. It's absolutely wild. This song is so fast and jumpy and fun, it makes for a great time to just groove to. I absolutely love the guitar following the lyrics during the chorus. The bridge section is sick as fuck too.
All Because of You - Smash. Just LISTEN to that crunchy groovy bass. Absolutely sick. This song definitely isn't as fast and crazy as the others but it's absolutely dancy. I absolutely LOVE the groovy guitar riff during the chorus. Another part in this song is the midway point cause it comes out with this badass solo that fits so fucking well, then goes back to the bass intro. Absolutely sick. This song is so groovy that I need to look up synonyms for groovy because I'm going to use that word so fucking often in this review, especially during this song. Let's see how I do.
Good to Be Bad - SMASH. This song gets stuck in my head so fucking often. This song is absolutely fabulous with it's riffs and bounciness. The pre-chorus absolutely sticks in my head despite this being a relatively mid tier song. I absolutely LOVE how they change the pre-chorus each time. This song is absolutely far out.
Full Steam Spacemachine - SMMAAASSSSHHHH AS FUUCCCKKKKK. I lied earlier, this is my favourite song on this fucking album. This has Joker and the Thief vibes, and it's fucking insane. This song is absolutely fucking neat. It is the niftiest song I've ever heard. I can absolutely vibe to this song no matter what the context is. This is a sex song which I am usually against, but it's just SO weird and obscure that it's perfect. The guitar in this song is S tier, and probably the best you'll find on this album. This song is so fucking boss (what the fuck?) "Let's go back to ur anus". Lmao.
Cry Baby Cry - Smash. This song is hard to listen to, being sandwiched between two S tier songs but it's still such a great song. This song is pretty mid / generic but that's okay because it's still such a fun song. That fucking crunchy bass line walkdown past the midway point is SOOOoooOOOooOOOoo chic (the fuck are with these synonyms?). Yeah this song is good but not incredible. The bass really shines in this one though and that's awesome.
Tommy-Gun - SMMAAAASSSSSSSHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAA. This is the one you probably know if you've heard this band. This song is the fucking bomb. Every time this song comes on I can't help but sing the fuck out of it. The guitar is so underratedly good in this one underneath the lyrics. Not to mention that the main lick is pretty fucking recognizable. This song checkmarks every box its supposed to. It's fast, fun, memorable, has sick moments, absolutely strange, everything works perfect. This is probably the song you would show someone if they wanted to know what this band is like in their early days. Stick this in your playlist.
I Must Be out of My Mind - Smash. This song is great when the chorus comes on. Other than that it's pretty mid tier, similar to Cry Baby Cry. You could get these two songs mixed up pretty easily. The pre-chorus is kinda fun, the chorus is what makes this song though. Super fun and fast and... swell? Alright that's it we're done with the groovy synonyms. Honestly don't skip this song but don't put it in your playlist unless you completely vibe with it.
Underwear - SMASH AS FUCK, this is on god the single weirdest song I've ever heard in my life. It's absolutely awesome. It's so... so strange. The guitar is AWESOME in this song, but I cannot describe anything more than that. I can't spoil this song for you. Please just go listen to it. Shoutout to Patricia, she fucking hates this song, and I fucking LOVE this song. It's hilarious. This one is in my playlist.
21st Century Gentleman - Smash. We're getting into the mid tier of the album. These last 3 songs are pretty forgettable but not worth stopping the album for. I'm gonna be honest, I won't talk much about these last 3 songs because I don't have much to say. They are pretty forgettable but still a fun bouncy vibe. This is probably the best of the last 3. The guitar is fun as usual but nothing to remember or stand out.
The End - Smash, but barely. I only enjoy this song cause the guitar is pretty cool, and the ending part where Adam whispers is super unique. Other than that, this song is VERY generic. This song also kind of gets on my nerves. The chorus is pretty annoying. I wouldn't skip this song at all, but I will give a very obvious side eye roll during some sections.
Oioioi - Smash. This song is definitely better than The End just based on how chilling it is. I can definitely sing this one and jam out. It's pretty generic but I like the "oh oh oh oh oh" parts. That shit is pretty fun. Pretty average song. Again, would never skip but wouldn't stick this in my playlist.
Conclusion
This album is so much fucking fun to listen to, in such a weird way. The songs are absolutely ridiculous, but everything works so well. This band came to play, and play they did. I can't recommend this album more than I already have, since it's just so enjoyable. You're going to listen to this album and think "What the fuck? Did he just say that?". Not to mention Hannes does such a great job with the guitar. Everything works so well.
What are your thoughts? Do you think the songs are too weird or are they groovy enough for your jazz ass to handle? Comment below.
RANK: A-
- Sharky
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