The Royal We
The Royal We
Geographic
Glasgow's The Royal We are not really from Glasgow at all. Singer Jihae Simmons moved over there from LA - imagining it to be a twee, idyllic place, inhabited by Belle & Sebastian fans and jazz cafes. Not football obsessed ship builders who go out to get drunk without a coat.
Boiling down from an initial sprawl of twenty members, the other five that stuck it out came from all parts of the UK under the guise of study, before coming together to record this debut album - The Royal We - which will also be their only album, as they are all set to move on from the brief moment that spawned them.
I say album, but at a mere twenty minutes that's a stretch. Especially as one track is a cover and another - the catchy, destined-for-use-in-adverts All The Rage - has already been released as a single. The main complaint however is not that they're exaggerating their achievement, just that we could have done with a bit more of it. On the other hand, think of it as an EP and you'll be pleased that it extends to 8 different tracks, putting the current lack of decent b-sides (even from the likes of Radiohead - once the bastion of the b-side) to shame.
Their lo-fi, garagey indie bears more than a passing resemblance to the might Electrelane, with instantly catchy tracks that are sanded down at the edges to hold them back from being too saccharine. French Legality sounds like a lost 70's Blondie demo and while it has a few nods to the 80's, it's generally not in that trendy neon way - more like the kind of band that would pop up on a teen-angst era John Hughes movie.
A great re-invention of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game rounds things off. A track whose credibility was never in doubt but can get quickly forgotten. Let's hope the same can't be said for The Royal We. R.I.P.
Links
Tags
22nd Nov 2007 - Tumblr
3