Album Review

Royal Republic - Save The NationRoyal Republic – Save The Nation

Swedish four piece Royal Republic caused a storm when they released their debut album ‘We Are The Royal’ back in 2010 due to their garage rock sound which quickly saw them being compared to the likes of The Hives and The Vines, and now two years on Royal Republic are back with their second studio album ‘Save The Nation’ and musically they have gone down a similar route to their debut but this time around they have gone down a more mature route when it comes to the nature and theme of their songs.

The album opens with the title track ‘Save The Nation’ a song which deals with leadership, voting and more importantly saving the nation as it says on the tin, musically the song is a fast and furious affair which becomes instantly accessible due to this, the guitar riffs are full on whilst the basslines feature more bounce than that bouncy castle you loved as a kid, whilst the lyrics are quirkily written with front man Adam Grahn delivering them at such a pace that you can’t help but be hooked within seconds.

‘You Ain’t Nobody (Till Somebody Hates You’ is vocally and instrumentally an repeative track but there is something about the track that keeps you hanging on until the end and when you get to the end of the track it is worth it as Grahn up’s his game and lets rip with a set of shouty vocals which sound very much like Marilyn Manson during his early days.

‘Everybody Wants To Be an Astronaut’ is a great little track which opens up with a set of whistling and within moments the song goes full on with constant marching band style drumming, bouncy riffs and a set of vocals which grab your attention from the start, lyrically the song takes a dig at human nature how we are never happy with what we have and what we do and how we always want more.

‘Make Love Not War (If You Have To)’ is easily the stand out track on the album and one that I can see people coming back to listen to time and time again as the song is just a short mad burst of energy where Royal Republic unleash their punk energy with Grahn singing “They say “make love not war! But I say if you have to make war, make sure to make time to make love in-between”.

The punk rock energy returns with ‘Punch Drunk Love’ a song which in places reminds me of the turbo charged My Chemical Romance song ‘Planetary (Go!)’, and in other places reminds me of The Hives but that might just be because they are fellow punks from Sweden.

The album closes with the utter bonkers ‘This Means Way’, the song is a 54 second shouty affair where Royal Republic do their best to make as much noise as they can and they happen to succeed.

When it comes to releasing a second album a lot of bands tend to struggle but Royal Republic have gone and put out yet another solid sounding album as ‘Save The Nation’ is an extremely fast, energetic album which is crammed full of songs that are extremely listenable and the best thing is that ‘Save The Nation’ sounds like an album which was created to be played live and I can already picture the carnage that is going to be caused when Royal Republic play these songs live to the English crowd in November.

4/5

Review by Trigger

 Band Members

Adam Grahn
Hannes Irengård
Per Andreasson
Jonas Almén
 Track Listing
1. Save The Nation
2. You Ain't Nobody ('Til Somebody Hates You)
3. Be My Baby
4. Everybody Wants To Be An Astronaut
5. Make Love Not War (If You Have To Make War - Be Sure To Make Time To Make Love In Between)
6. Strangers Friends Lovers Strangers
7. Addictive
8. Molotov
9. Punch Drunk Love
10. Sailing Man
11. Let Your Hair Down
12. Revolution
13. Vicious
14. I Don't Wanna Go Out
15. Untitled
 Band Related Links
Royal Republic Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?