Raggedy Swedish rockers The Royal Beggars have built up quite a reputation as purveyors of life-through-the-bottom-of-a-beer-glass musings over the course of three excellent EPs, and now they are here with their first full length effort, the excellently-named Falling To New Heights. And very nice it is too.
Ain’t That Pretty, a tear-jerking duet with fellow Swede Maja Van Hogerlinden Olausson, is a gorgeous piece of work, drawing on inspirations like Hanoi Rocks and the Dogs D’Amour (with maybe a bit of Frankie Miller thrown in for good measure) and adding a bit of country to the mix to really get the ol’ ducts working. It’s not the only string to these guys’ bow, but it’s probably the most appealing at this point. However, that’s not to say that their most straightforward settings aren’t very appealing; Drunken singalongs like Hellbound also have their place, if only to remind us what a fine lead guitarist Jonas Heimdal is. But it’s the more country-tinged tracks that pack the most punch and offer the best point of difference in a musical arena that has many pretenders but no real Kings. And these beggars are royal, right?
Villains N’Thieves is probably the best of the rockers, a low slung n’brooding piece of storytelling that finds vocalist David Roobert in fine form as a drunken desperado struggling to make sense of where he’s ended up in life. It’s dramatic, packed with pathos and rounded out with that little bit o’heroic maudlin that makes these things so appealing – And you’re gonna love it to the very last drop of Heimdal’s heroic closing solo, I promise.
Overall Falling To New Heights is one of those albums that’s going to find it’s way onto your device of choice as you load up on pre-drinks, squeezed into your pleather strides as you contemplate a Friday night out on the tiles – and quite frankly I can’t think of a more perfect accompaniment to such activities. These guys are masters of their craft, and should be celebrated joyously – possibly in the form of loud and repeated toasting – and thanked for coming up with such a glorious slab of raucosity. Thanks guys!
Falling To New Heights releases on July 12th
Leave A Comment