Royal Blood & Radio 1
RedOrDead36
Posts: 1,629 Forum Member
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It seems the hipsters at R1 have found another band to excessively masturbate over and force down our throats despite them being a pretty non-descript rock/guitar duo.
Anyone see the hype because I don't? Chosen for their "musical merit" maybe?
Anyone see the hype because I don't? Chosen for their "musical merit" maybe?
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What I would bet happened is the Zayn "so very" Lowe jumped on them and it made all the other DJs and producers all excited.
Absolutely see the hype. Your description is wrong for a start as there is no guitar featured - only a bass and drums, which is part of the appeal.
You can always tell when a band are Radio 1 darlings but have no credibility outside of that, because the genuine rock and metal community will not have any respect for them, and they'll fall by the wayside. But as you can see from the likes of myself and Glawster defending them here, and how they are talked about by the alternative rock/metal press, these guys are the real deal. It's good to see Radio 1 getting behind the genuine article for once.
Though the performance at the brits told me they would be radio 1s wet dream .
Do you know what the word 'hipster' actually means? Because it has nothing to do with Radio 1 or indeed Royal Blood, both of whom are totally mainstream.
1. The singer/bass player runs his bass through an effects set up that synthesizes a fake guitar sound over the bass notes he’s playing. So some of the “playing” you are hearing isn’t therefore actually being played.
In an era dominated by electronic music and autotune its perhaps no surprise that rock acts might want to get in and use tricks to fatten up their sound. However it hasn’t impressed some of the purists who just see them as more fake garbage in a world of fake garbage.
Indeed I’ve even seen some questioning their motives for not having a real guitar player as part of the lineup, seeing it as the act of two selfish people that don’t want to share the money with anybody else. Harsh!
2. They are apparently signed to the same management as the Artic Monkeys. This seems to wind up the unsigned bands out there no end as they feel the quick rise to the top of Royal Blood has had less to do with their talent and more to do with their management opening doors for them.
Whether those are fair points or the most sour grapes going, as always, I leave you to decide.
I think the real problem is the music press and radio are that desperate for a rock act they can get behind that they hype literally anyone who comes along to ridiculous levels. This then creates totally unrealistic expectations around the act and they either sink or swim pretty quickly.
I always prefer to see acts given some time before people judge them. I’d like to think Royal Blood would get a couple of albums before people draw their conclusions. But it looks like they’ve just stepped into the hyperbole and there’s no chance of escaping now.
The argument against that is for those unsigned bands to get better management with better contacts... The music industry, like any other, has always been about who you know rather than what you know.
Are Royal Blood the best thing since sliced bread? No, I don't think so. For me the like of The Graveltones and, maybe even Drenge are "better" but of course that is a purely subjective view.
Certainly their current tour sold out in seconds, so they must be doing something right, I'm going to see them in Newport tomorrow. But whether that translates in to long-term success is another matter.
As for the current "backlash" I would suspect it is mostly down to old-fashioned jealousy.
Yes I'd agree with that. Whilst I was playing devils advocate repeating some of the complaints I've heard, I don't agree with all of the whining and internet trolling of every new band that is successful. If anything is killing rock/alt/indie music its people not giving anyone new a chance before they get their claws into them.
I often wonder how long many past greats would last in today's cut throat industry and whether we'd have ever got to hear their classic albums before they were written off as yesterdays news.
That said these days you aren't anybody until you've had a good backlash or two, so I reckon Royal Blood should take it all as a huge compliment
A few months ago, they were featured in the Daily Mirror under the 'gigs' section, as in "you need to go and see this band". They got a good write up.
Royal Blood I can take or leave. His bass and effects setup is a very closely guarded secret.
However, it wouldn't surprise me if he'd "done a Billy Duffy" and stumbled on the sound completely by accident.
Duffy is happy to admit that the swirly sound he gets on She Sells Sanctuary was the result of turning on all his pedals and seeing what came out!