Album Review

Royworld – Brakes

• 2nd Sep 2008

Royworld’s latest offering ‘brakes’ is typically inoffensive middle of the road British guitar pop. It’s got a nice and upbeat, if somewhat predictable feel, that is sure to see the bands already rising success continue to materialise. They appear to be reaching out for the anthemic feel-good sing –a-longs in the vain of ‘Feeder’ and ‘The Feeling’.

There’s certainly nothing new here and on the length of an album I’m sure their sound could grate a lot and become rather annoying, however over the course of these 4 and a bit minutes the band manage to hold their own and offer a refreshing and lively alternative to many of today’s chart acts.

The layered piano and acoustic strum along are the perfect accompaniment to the soaring vocals, the rising ‘yeeeaah’ followed by the chorus of ‘this is your life, don’t you cry, coz it’s alright’ are not exactly the finest lyrics penned all year, but they are effective and tuneful enough to confirm Royworld’s status as an exciting and melodious band with good song craftsmanship.