Wednesday 26 August 2015

Royal Headache


At long last – an album as good as this.

I don’t even want to say The Jam since you might think of pale imitators. If this is The Jam, then these are some of the best songs Paul Weller didn’t write in the 80s (stuff like “Need You” and “Another World” in particular). They play soul punk music – direct, concise, with fantastic attitude. They are Australian, too.

Just great melodies all around. Choruses in the title track or “Carolina” are garage-rock bliss, and High also features “Garbage” which is vitriolic and “Wouldn’t You Know” which is a forgotten soulful gem from the 60s. 

You won’t get tired of it, however hard you might try. If anything – you’ll want more. The good news is that their 2011 debut is almost as good. Year’s most exciting etc. etc? Sounds about right.