The Royal We
The Royal We
Release Date: Aug 19, 2008
Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Pop
Record label: Domino
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Album Review: The Royal We by The Royal We
Exceptionally Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
This one’s a Glasgow baby through and through. Birthed amid the ramshackle cacophonia of dorm-room jam sessions, and then rushed through to an especially pimply adolescence, this jagged little fragment of hyperactive twee pop somehow managed to grow into a gangly, undersized amalgam of the Raincoats, Vaselines and Belle & Sebastian. Led by lost angel Jihae Simmons, whose voice is, in fact, more Eugene Kelly than Frances McKee, the Royal We rocks just the way any other wobbly gig loaded with artsy part-time barista types ought to.
Based on rating 8/10
The Royal We sound like a computer program designed them to be the ideal Scottish pop group. Take Josef K's angular, danceable rhythms, add some of the Pastels' innocent charm and Belle & Sebastian's archly witty lyrical bent, sprinkle on a fair bit of the girl group sass of the Shop Assistants and the FU attitude of the Jesus and Mary Chain, and you get the picture. Only the Royal We don't sound calculated or fake; they bring the template to life with some amazingly hooky songs on their debut self-titled record.
Opinion: Fairly Good
Once upon a time in Glasgow, six people met, discovered their shared pop sensibilities and presumable fondness for lolcats, and started a band called the Royal We. It lasted for about a year, whereupon singer Jihae Simmons went back to Los Angeles, guitarist Patrick Doyle joined a band called Correcto, and everyone else went about his or her business like a normal private citizen. The Royal We, either a very short album or an eight-song EP, is Domino’s document of that year-or-so of majestic plurality.