The Royal They, The Royal They, 2016

Album Review

I feel, lately, like I keep pointing out how this or that record is full of sonic contrasts. Usually it's something along the lines of, "there's a real sense of pop songwriting that shines through all the noise" or similar. Well, contrasts are what struck me about the self-titled debut from Brooklyn's The Royal They.

Vocalist (and Highland Park, NJ native) Michelle Hutt has an almost sweet, bubblegum pop-sounding voice. Album-opener "Truncheon" starts with some Modest Mouse-like guitars before Hutt hits us with, "It doesn't make you any less of an insufferable c*%t!" The music stops to let her deliver the key word with emphasis, and then things blast off into loud, 90s-inspired territory.

"Pinkeye Baby" is some straight-ahead post-punk grunge. Hutt's vocals are a little more manic, but they never quite break into a full-on scream. Drummer Rick Martinez is amazing on this one as he is throughout the record.

With the one-two punch of "Countenance" and "Laurels," The Royal They move into some heavy dream-pop or post rock territory. On the latter, Hutt (guitar), Martinez (drums), and Darrell Dumas (guitar) create a crescendo of noise while Hutt's high-register floats through the walls of sound.

Garage rocker "Kamikaze" features some snotty call and response vocals between Hutt and one of the guys. It's pretty straight-forward rock-- a change from some of the more "alternative" stuff that's preceded it and just a fun one to cut loose to. Similarly, "Lyric Machine" is hard rock power pop in the vein of something like Veruca Salt. And, in a pretty clever twist, The Royal They use "Lyric Machine" -- easily the poppiest song on the record -- to criticize the commodification of pop music: "Lyric machine, lyric machine, can't see any color other than green."

The album closes with the punk of "Full Metal Black" and "Shinburner." On both, Hutt delivers the verses in staccato almost spoken-word and Martinez is absolutely furious. Lots of involuntary head-bobbing and bouncing to these; and, rather than the easy let-down of an album-closing acoustic number or ballad, The Royal They send you off out of breath with your heart pounding.

The Royal They features a ton of contrasts: not only the one I mentioned above between Hutt's vocals and the heaviness of the band, but it also weaves among contrasting styles from grunge to post-rock to garage rock to power pop. Hutt shows herself to be a versatile front-person adapting ever so slightly to fit each style; and, as a band, The Royal They move seamlessly through their paces.

The Royal They is out now on King Pizza Records.

A Couple of Releases from Brooklyn for a Friday: The Rizzos and Doctor Barber

EP Mini Roundup

In the interest of tri-state area solidarity (and cleaning out my inbox), I wanted to call your attention to a couple of EPs that came to me recently from the borough of my birth. Even though I've been a New Jersey resident since the age of five, there's always that part of me that takes a special pride in being a native New Yorker and a child of Kings County. There's obviously a lot of great music coming to us from Brooklyn, and these are just two of my recent favorites.

The Rizzos, Worse Things, 2015

It was a sweltering evening during Northside Festival 2015. I'd made my way over to Pet Rescue to see / hang with our friends in Dentist, and The Rizzos started the evening. I enjoyed their set quite a bit; and, soon after, I got hold of Worse Things, their June release on King Pizza Records.

Let's put aside for a second the fact that a band called The Rizzos with an EP called Worse Things just makes me smile. The band have a sound that straddles the worlds of pop, punk, garage, and even country. On opener, "Give Me an Answer," Megan Mancini shows off a big voice that combines with the guitars to give things that kind of country feel I was talking about. "Gnarly" gives off a kind of poppy / punky vibe like some of the great stuff coming out of Philly from bands like Cayetana or Swearin'. "Vomit Kiss" is a retro-sounding garage rocker.

In general, Worse Things is just a really good straight-up rock record that features some well-crafted songs and impressive vocals from Mancini.

Worse Things is out now on King Pizza Records and available for you to stream / purchase at The Rizzos' Bandcamp page. There are worse things you could do. (That, right there, is just awful. I'm ashamed.)

Doctor Barber, Sick Sad World, 2015

From the Brooklyn community known as Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen comes Doctor Barber and Sick Sad World. When I read the description of the band as "guitar-heavy alt rock," I thought, "That could mean lots of things. Some good, some not so good." Once I listened to Sick Sad World, though, I decided that Doctor Barber came down on -- for me, anyway -- the very good side.

Like some recent bands I've really loved -- Milk Music, California X -- Doctor Barber play around in that space staked out by my beloved Dinosaur Jr. There's fuzz and noise and big guitar solos and well-structured songs all playing together. Loudly.

"Pictures of Your Pets" rides on some huge guitar chords and a snaking lead and has a nicely slackery feel to it: "I think I'd like to retire from doing nothing. Go on the road for a while." Things get kind of psychedelic on "Seagate;" but the big lead guitar is still there and so are Ethan Donway's vocals, which are a kind of Mascis / Martsch / Young mash-up. Speaking of Doug Martsch, set-closer "Happy Thoughts" gives me a strong Built To Spill feeling while, at the same time, maintaining the sound that Doctor Barber have cultivated for the whole set.

Sick Sad World, which was recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Oliver Ignatius (He also plays bass on the record.) at Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen is available now at Doctor Barber's Bandcamp page.

Sun Voyager / Greasy Hearts, Grease Voyage Split EP, 2014

EP Review

We're currently in the umpteenth garage rock revival. That's actually a joke, because I don't think garage, psych, stoner rock ever went away. In every era, there are kids willing to blend noisy, trippy guitars with sneering, snotty vocals to blow your mind.

Sun Voyager and Greasy Hearts represent two slightly different approaches to that on their just-released split cassette EP for King Pizza Records.

The Sun Voyager half comes down more on the side of swirling and psychedelic. Carlos Valle's reverb-soaked guitar and vocals sound like they're coming at you from across the great expanse of space on "Desert Dweller." Things get slightly stompier on "Mind Maze" and "Let It Ride," but there's still a dreaminess to the vocals and a sharp edge to the guitar solos that keep things in the realm of psychedelic mind expansion for the Albany, NY trio.

Brooklyn's Greasy Hearts take things in a grittier, heavier direction with their half of the split. Peter Wilderotter's and Joe Farber's vocals are more up-front on "I Don't Mind," and there are a few more obvious hooks. There's less swirling reverb and more heavy guitar on all of the tracks. Set-closer "Pick Up Your Heart" has an especially southern, heavy bluesy feel to it.

Grease Voyage is a nice example of why all of that garage-, psych-, stoner-, blues-, whatever rock is just rock. Giving it all a label may help to sell it, but it's been what it's been ever since kids plugged in their guitars.

You can stream both sides of Grease Voyage at the respective Bandcamp pages of Sun Voyager and Greasy Hearts. The cassette is available from King Pizza Records.

Sun Voyager will be at The Wonder Bar on January 3rd helping The Munsens to kick off their tour with Ashes to Oranges, and This That and The Others.