We were all taught that success comes with time and hard work, but the accomplishments of English duo, Royal Blood, seemingly occurred overnight. I made the trek to The Shelter in Detroit in July of last year to see Michael Kerr and Ben Thatcher bust open everyone’s eardrums while simultaneously question why this band wasn’t more popular. The small venue was filled almost to capacity. Not even six months later, the band was promoted upstairs to St. Andrew’s Hall, again, filled almost to capacity, gaining a few hundred fans. Kerr, the son of a preacher, regularly touches upon his adverse feelings towards religion in some of the songs and also speaks of loves lost. Properly, Thatcher slang booze before pounding cans in Royal Blood.
Their unapologetic rock and roll sound was something unheard of from two individuals playing only a bass and drums. The first EP contained four of the hardest hitting hard rock tracks out at the time and I’m still looking for a new band to come close. “Out of the Black”, was backed by radio play and word of mouth and each single released thereafter was harder and somehow better than the last. “Little Monster” was the second single to be released from their debut EP. Like an artist’s sophomore album, the second single easily distinguishes those who came to make their mark versus a one hit wonder. But, Royal Blood wasn’t about to go out in the first or second round. “Hole” and “Figure It Out” easily knocked out any hard rock artists thinking they were putting out what people wanted to hear. It is unclear when we are to expect new music from Thatcher and Kerr, but if their new releases resemble anything like what we’ve heard already, then we’d all benefit.
Below is the band’s latest music video, “Little Monster”, which debuted on Howard Stern’s website.
The band is currently on tour with support from Mini Mansions (also playing Bunbury) and later this year will switch roles to support rock veterans, Foo Fighters. Royal Blood performs this Friday, June 5th at 7:30 PM on the Pavilion Stage. Bring your earplugs because it will be loud. Don’t skip this one.
