Travel between galaxies with loud rock ‘n roll and sweaty decibels
Raygun Royale have establishing a gentle, burly aesthetic on their new EP Lightning Bandits. The opener ‘Junkies Know Best’ starts with this sentiment and then switched gears entirely across the rest of the EP. This six-track EP is a rare one, it lets you escape reality and takes you on a universal high; even the tone of the vocals seems to vary from song to song.
Raygun Royale keeps you enticed with guitar riffs, more rhythm and harmony and an emphasis on the love they have for their music making. ‘Between the Lines’ is wild, fast paced and carries an explicit metaphor to read between the actual-fucking-lines. ‘Fire on Holiday’ is patient to an extent – what I want, what I crave, what I need…
Their rhythm section is powerful; their hooks are as catchy as they are belligerent. ‘Fingers Crossed’ carries a sound that is beefy and brutal, and the tone is angrily dismissive. Move along, can’t you see… There’s something very relatable about all this misery.
‘The Bullfight’ is aggressive, estique-warped and distorted vocals. Voices, guitars and rock ‘n roll hooks are all thrown into a thresher of loud distortion, feedback and noise-rock. Listening to the EP feels like it is inches away from completely wrecking my speakers. The EP is making a point of daring you to turn it up, flip the noise switch once more and pelt the songs with their own distinct cacophonous sound.
As the EP comes to an end ‘Snake Charmer’ starts with this sad-boy romantic pining reminding me of Placebo’s glam and grunge-influenced hard rock. How Brian Molko has this ability to carry forward a sexual ambiguity in their lyrics; Josh Rogers delivers that melancholy croon with distorted guitar-riff, not without a Raygun-Royale-twist of course – this is a standout track on the album.
Right when it seems that they’ve settled into a restrained groove, they shake it up again: the speed picks up, guitar solos are delivered, vocals are augmented and distorted, making your music soul feel intergalactic.
In a world where some artists are actively seeking to make themselves generic and bland as humanly possible, Raygun Royale takes their unique elements and rip them apart, although Intergalactic Lightning Bandits doesn’t hail anything new for Raygun Royale, it does keep the faith that they’re going to continue making quality music for quite some time.
