(R.I.P. Society)

Hopeful Sydney romantics begin garage anthem legacy

Royal Headache’s highly anticipated debut album arrives a couple of years after the band’s 7-inch track Eloise caught the attention of someone at Pitchfork, causing generalised horny jealousy among trash-bag rocker circles around the nation. This purposefully dishevelled 12-tracker – the result of (many) a boatshed jams in Putney, Sydney – was recorded on the spot with 1/4 inch tape and Dictaphones, and mashes dark ‘70s garage soul with short-bursting power pop. Possibly, it is this unworked simplicity that makes even the most punkish, wonder-pop, danceable tracks (such as Girls and Down The Lane) sound unaffected – like the band is aware of their references (Royal Headache are self-declared fans of early Buzzcocks and The Nerves), but mostly just listens to their naturally-occurring inner romantic to write whatever they want. Halfway track Two Kinds Of Love, for example, breaks off any semblance of continuity as frontman Shogun’s gives up his ecstatic dreamy vocals in favour of fuzzed, jangly chords, while a boppy bass line follows just behind drums. The album skips from chaotic smashers to soulful softies several times after, but the gut of Royal Headache remains intact – that voice, those drums! The album is this: a collection of Royal Headache’s most spontaneous songs. That is why it is so doe-eyed and great.

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ALICE REZENDE

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