Royworld - Brakes Single Review (2008)

One that slipped through the net. I wrote this a while ago but no one seemed to know when it was being released. So when it was added to The Music Magazine site, I missed it. I'm not a huge fan of the band but I tried to be honest and open-minded. They have a great song, they just need more new songs.

The review:

It is always good when a band release a few singles before a debut album but it can work against them. Royworld are on the verge of what should be major success with a trio of singles including the very impressive, if chart-topping and formulaic, ‘Dust’. Now the band release ‘Brakes’ which is more of the same, only not as good.

‘Brakes’ opens with a simple acoustic guitar melody before Rod Futrille’s gravely, yet soft, vocals come in. The chorus is a curious thing. In two parts it has Futrille sounding, ironically, like Olly Knights from Turin Brakes in a reworking of ‘Painkiller’. The first part works well, complimented with more frenetic guitars, but the second borders on mediocrity. The problem is it has all been done before - the big opening “yeah” and sing-a-long predictable lyrics: “This is your life / Don’t you cry, coz it’s alright / As we dance for the last time…” with every strained extended emotional syllable. This formula is repeated until the fade at the second repetition to make a convenient three and a bit minutes. It is the kind of music Feeder have been making for years with a lot more success.

‘Dust’ may be typical radio-friendly pop, but it was a brilliant debut. Even the other singles ‘Man In The Machine’ and ‘Elasticity’, which both sound like they have been done many times before, are more interesting. ‘Brakes’ tries desperately to capture the big sound of ‘Dust’ but never gets there. With only one album it may be too early to tell but so far Royworld appear to be a one hit wonder.

-- CS (for The Music Magazine)