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Autumn Rocks: The Season Kicks Off with a Fierce Foursome

August 21, 2015 by A.S. Van Dorston

The dearth of high-profile releases during the summer ends early this year, with four excellent new albums. Three of them had a fair amount of pre-release build-up to the point that I had pre-ordered the releases by Kadavar, Ghost and The Sword without having heard a note months ago. However they were all, I won’t say out-rocked, but certainly outdone on the songwriting and vocal performance by a garage punk band from Sydney, Australia.

Royal Headache – High (What’s Your Rupture?)

Royal Headache - High (What's Your Rupture?, 2015)I first heard Royal Headache on their indie self-titled debut in 2012, a scrappy, noisy, lo-fi album that seemed kind of minor at first, but grew on me. Skinny, awkward frontman Shogun really gets under your skin with his conviction and deceptively versatile voice, sounding like a young Paul Westerberg if he were influenced by gritty soul. While their early sound of soulful punk and oi has expanded to include comparisons to The Jam and other later British bands, I think even more important is the fiery passion they have reignited from the likes of countrymen The Saints and Hunters And Collectors, particularly their tortured love and heartbreak lyrics on Human Frailty (1986). More modern comparison might be Palma Violets, or Titus Andronicus, who have evolved along similar lines. However, that band kind of lost me on much of their sprawling double album, The Most Lamentable Tragedy, which contains far too much filler to qualify them as the “greatest rock band in the world” status that some have attempted to bestow them.  On Royal Headache’s second album High, they administer twice the impact, devastation and jubilance at less than third of the running time.

Like all the greatest breakup albums, it successfully balances the wrenching pain, loss and regret with flashbacks to the giddy joy of love at first flush, and all the complicated and mixed emotions between the beginning and the end. Case in point, the surprisingly laid back sounding, acoustic-driven “Carolina” which sports a hook worthy of the best Saints tunes, and a gravelly, soulful vocal performance that reminds me of Rod Stewart at his peak, back when seemingly peerless rock titans like Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers would kiss his ring on bent knees. The video successfully shows how Shogun puts in the same emotional energy into the song as their more energetic rockers, as he looks like he’s literally going to leap out of his skin. Fuckin’ great.

You don’t have to wait for that deep cut to get slayed. Opener “My Own Fantasy” draws you in with an alluring melody, an ode to the virtues of rock ‘n’ roll getting an otherwise average guy way more love action than anyone would reasonably expect. “Need You” reminds me the rush I first got hearing The Strokes back when they were cocky and had a legitimate reason to be. “High” most certainly has fans already screaming along with the chorus at live shows. “Another World” is certainly a dead ringer for The Jam, but it’s just so damn excellent, and gone at 2:22 before you know it. That’s an impressive run of songs. “Wouldn’t You Know” slows the tempo down into a slowburn, propelled by a fabulous surf guitar and bass line which reminds me of the slower tunes like “Tides Of Time” and “Mexico” on the nearly as great self-titled album by The Soft Pack in 2010. “Garbage” is the hateful, sneering apex laced with acidic, distorted guitar to invigorating affect.

“Love Her If I Tried” and “Little Star” lovingly sandwich the aforementioned highlight “Carolina” with more killer hooks and choruses, and the albums ends with the noisy, punky “Electric Shock.” No longer really a punk band, and not all that heavy, on the surface one would have thought this was the kind of indie bullshit that’s drove me into the denim ‘n’ leather clad arms of heavy psych, doom and hard rock. But if more bands could deliver the quality that High does, I’d certainly make more exceptions. Royal Headache is without a doubt worthy of the horned salute.

Kadavar – Berlin (Nuclear Blast)

Kadavar - Berlin (Nuclear Blast, 2015)My most anticipated release was by Kadavar, the German hard psych rockers who envision songs more as vehicles for awesome licks and shredding solos than emotional purging. This is no bad thing, as it sets them up for a stellar live show, which Kadavar has deservedly earned a worldwide reputation for wiping the stage with all who precede them. While their 2012 self-titled debut was plenty entertaining, the songs seemed an afterthought compared to their live reputation. They quickly followed it up with a much improved Abra Kadavar (2013), and their third sees them at the peak of their powers, with a slightly more modernized production sheen without sacrificing the warmth of their guitar tones inspired by the best pedals the 70s had to offer. One particular song that stands out is “The Old Man,” with a tricky guitar riff that captures the best kind of psych prog that I greatly miss from Witchcraft circa 2005. Kadavar’s expanded dynamic and stylistic range makes a great case for them to be considered peers with their soul-brethren from Sweden, Witchcraft and Graveyard. Can’t wait to see them!

Ghost – Meliora (Loma Vista)

Ghost - Meliora (Loma Vista, 2015)Ghost is more of a mixed bag. While they are always excellent live, and I love their first album, Opus Eponymous (2010), with their hard rock and NWOBHM influences, I liked their direction of more psych and prog on Infestissumam (2013) on principle, the results were not quite as consistent. For a while I was somehow given the impression via interviews and pre-release hype that it was going to be even more proggy which could have been interesting. Instead, their music is more simplified than ever, but with very thorough, expensive sounding production. The good news is that it sounds amazing, and it will certainly help them continue to grow their audience. “From The Pinnacle To The Pit” with it’s fuzzy lead bass and big multi-tracked choruses, and single “Cirice” are great songs to top-load the album with. The downside is I’m not sure how how many times I’ll be drawn back in, as none of the songs really transfix me with more challenging structures that take a while to grow into. But I still have tickets to see them live for the third time.

The Sword – High Country

The Sword - High Country (Razor & Tie, 2015)It’s not surprising that The Sword would take a fairly drastic change of direction over a decade into their career. They figure they can’t just shred forever, so it’s time to experiment. While there are elements of stoner rock in their early albums, this one goes for a full-on southern boogie in their simplified sound, and some out of place sounding keyboards and sequencer effects that at least sound like they could be from 1976. The production is pretty great actually, achieving a nice thick, creamy guitar sound on many tracks. Whether they are channeling ZZ Top or Clutch, there’s some good tunes, and some not so good ones. I’m not sure which is worse, their inconsistency or the fact that even the better songs are still surpassed by a number of bands that do that style better. So it’s partly a failed experiment that veers away from their guitar-centric strengths. If you can get over your initially high expectations, it can be a pretty fun, enjoyable listen in its diversity. I’m just not sure how much staying power it’ll have in my playlists, but perhaps it’ll surpass Gods of the Earth (2008) which has the opposite problem of rocking hard but is too samey and monochromatic. I’m quite certain they’ll remain a rockin’ live band.

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