Posted by If you thought Royal Republic’s previous album Club Majesty was korny, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Those bombastic Swedes Royal Republic are back at the disco powered, highly camp rock n roll, but this time have added a dose of funk, and 80s cock rock to the mix.
A sultry, sax laden intro leads you into ‘My House’, from the pulsating synth bass and the slickly produced guitars to the velcro chorus and the retro hip hop like breakdown – this is 3 minutes and 14 seconds of pure cheese. The tongue in cheek title track, with its whiff of David Lee Roth‘s solo work, continues their unabashed love of all things camp – complete with the big backing chants of “Hey! Hey! Hey!”, a disco beat and an electrifying, Van Halen style guitar solo. It may be slightly overdone in places but the songs are so slick and satisfyingly catchy whatever genre they borrow from, with the glossiest being ‘Sha-La-La Lady’ – a sunny serving of funky pop.
They do not take themselves seriously, and when that is paired to their finely attuned pop sensibilities you are in for a good time. ‘Wow! Wow! Wow!’ is a funk rocker with an irresistible groove warning you to make the most of life “cause life is a party and if you go to bed, you’ll be asleep whilst your friend’s getting head”. ‘Love Somebody’ is a rapid fire rocker with its foot to the floor and ‘Aint Got Time’, with its danceable beat and slinky bassline, is the happiest earworm you will hear this year.
They even try their hand at ‘80s metal, with the quiet verses of ‘Freakshow’ leading you to a pounding, ‘80s era Extreme riff and a short but widdly diddly guitar. They even dabble with the power ballad in the Def Leppard loving ‘Lazerlove’ – and if you listen to it with your eyes closed you can almost see a Joe Elliot’s Hysteria era mullet and a smoke machine blowing away in the background.
Following on from Club Majesty, Royal Republic have delivered another dose of high camp, high cheese party rock with plenty of silliness and hooks to spare. This is not for serious or the faint of heart .
8/10
Lofty Music and Film 