Royal Blood singer/bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher have had a banner year in 2015, having toured with the Foo Fighters and received accolades from rock royalty reaching all the way up to Jimmy Page. The UK band’s eponymous debut LP had a nice perch on our 2014 Albums of The Year list, and as momentum grows for the duo to return to the studio for their next album, they’re doing a festival victory lap at Austin City Limits.
The UK duo swaggered and blasted their way through an incredible early-day set on Friday at ACL, tearing through the majority of last year’s eponymous crusher LP. The UK rockspaz duo sounded like a spiky lovechild between Refused and Japandroids as they punched up hits “Come On Over” and “Figure It Out”.
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We caught up with Royal Blood backstage at ACL to discuss the band’s Halloween plans, their agenda for new music, the Blades of Glory perfection of their matching embroidered track jackets and more:
Rock needs to drop its silly-ass inferiority complex and realize that Dave Grohl isn’t the only one holding the paint can at the wall of modern music history. Chopping riffs, purposeful passion and potent sneer shape this Brighton bass-and-drum duo’s sound as much as their explosively infectious choruses, and the distinct lack of bullshit makes it perfectly sensible that these cats are the most breathlessly deified new UK rock outfit we’ve seen in a decade.
Keep up with Royal Blood at their official site.
