Not to heap too much pressure on Royal Blood, but casting a tired eye on the headliners of Glastonbury over the weekend and it’s plain to see that even at the crown peaks of modern rock music - the genre is in a pretty torrid state. Arcade Fire, who are little more than an overweight Talking Heads performed a set on Friday night that resembled a mute orchestra playing in the background of Rentaghost episode. This was followed by Metallica on Saturday night summoning up the nature of the beast on Saturday in shorts and tight black t-shirts. And finally, perhaps worst of all, Kasabian, by far and away the most successful Slade cover band of all time honking and snorting their baggy morass like a fringed donkey farting on a prairie.

On the Saturday afternoon however, in the John Peel tent something a great deal  more exciting and energised was brewing. If not the realised future of rock and roll, then certainly a thrilling performance from a band blowing the stylised cobwebs off things. That band was Royal Blood, a Brighton duo who offer up an intriguing mixture of both the blues soaked past and the punk rock future. Their trajectory into the spotlight has come off the back of three blistering singles and a scene stealing spot at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas this year. With celebrity fans already including Matt Helder’s from the Artic Monkeys, their August album release date already seems an important diary note in an industry that seems to have stalled in recent years in being able to produce a band of capable of removing the old guard and ushering in something both exciting, world conquering and new.

Royal Blood just might be that band. Although there’s an obvious influence of Led Zeppelin and Bleach era Nirvana to their music, not since the White Stripes has there been outfit with the ability to turn the primal attack of the past into something that’s more than a blueprint pose. Closed fist music in fact, the sound of breaking glass and pumping hearts. If the early signs are anything to go by, come August, and it just might be the album that Uk music fans have been waiting for.

More…

Von Pip’s Top 7 Indie Songs Of The Month

Putting On A Festival: How To Bankrupt Yourself In 7 Easy Steps