After months of every man and his dog recommending them to me, I finally got round to catching the much-tipped (and inexplicably unsigned) American six-piece The Outside Royalty. Sounding like the love-child of Arcade Fire and Pulp, they can’t claim to be in the same league as those two behemoths of musical splendour, but there’s a definite sense of occasion about their shows, a feeling that this is a band that’s going places. And for good reason too- armed with an impressive collection of synth-and-strings drenched indie pop, they’re a band that know how to craft a sterling tune. More striking still is their charisma; engaging without being cocky and instilling their performance with a real fervent energy, they keep the audience’s attention for the entirety of their short-but-sweet set. But their greatest asset is their musical proficiency- Adam Billing is a characterful vocalist, with more than a hint of Brandon Flowers about him, but it’s their eccentric drummer and luscious strings (impeccably mixed in this tiny Camden boozer) that bring the songs to life, most notably on their debut single ‘Palladium’.
Nonetheless, there’s still some room for improvement; their song structure is too straight-laced to truly take advantage of their arresting talent and the arrangements, superbly balanced as they are, show a similar lack of creativity. But if they manage to inject a little more excitement into their songwriting, I genuinely think The Outside Royalty could be unstoppable. Any band that can deliver a cover of Eleanor Rigby (AF-gone-punk stylee) that’s been spoken in the same breath as the original are obviously something special…
(Photos: Simonse15 (flickr), from their Islington Academy show)
3 comments:
Hello there Mr Meh,
Out of interest whats your best gig ever and your worst?! and why?!
Hello there Mr Ginge,
My best gig ever is Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy, 15th March 2007 with the Flaming Lips at Manchester Apollo, 25th April 2006 a close second. There were at least two points during the AF gig where I had tears in my eyes, and the rendition of Crown Of Love was one of the most amazing things I've heard in my life.
Worst gig? I've never been to a terrible show per se, but the biggest disappointments were The Divine Comedy in May 2006 (Neil was drunk and played hardly any of the classics), The Twilight Sad (lots of hype, but I thought they were dull as), and Modest Mouse.
Actually, tell a lie- The View were fucking atrocious at Glastonbury. I think I actually contracted cancer from how utterly rubbish they were.
Hey, thanks for the comments! We had a great time at that show -- always enjoy playing the Dublin.
Just as one quick correction though -- we're actually not signed yet.
Thanks again for the review!
Brandon
drums
The Outside Royalty
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