The Beat Surrender

Not really sure why I’d asked to do this review it can’t have been a burning desire to hear Royworld who I originally thought were the headline band, since when I reviewed a previous single I didn’t score it too highly. Perhaps it was just the thought of another boring Friday evening spent in front of the rubbish TV. Whatever, on a cold miserable evening I made my way to Leeds, now anyone taking time to read my reviews before will know that I can get lost driving to the end of the road, this time my legendary sense of direction didn’t let me down, arrived on time and in one piece, even managed to park just outside, amazing.

Before I’d left for the gig, I’d done some digging around for background info and while my ticket said Royworld were headlining with support, one site had Kinch as support and another had The Bribes. If you looked on The Cockpit site it said Royworld with Kinch but The Bribes site said they were headline, very odd.

First up were Kinch, first impressions were just how young they looked, is this a sign of my impending old age? Four piece, drums, keyboard, guitar and saxophone. It’s nice to see a young band starting out and daring to be different. First track Its Over Now, which they said was a new track for them was ok the shame was that the vocals were overpowered by the drums and guitar, on a positive note the saxophone was wonderful. As the set moved along a stand out track was Look Out, great pop sound, good guitar combining with the strong repetitive chorus line, the music wasn’t exactly overpowering but the vocals did seem ever so quiet.

Another good track was Sections, same problem with quiet vocals, the band have the basic raw talent it just needs a bit of a polish and given the relative young age of the band this wont be a problem. Liked the intro to Got To Work It Out, no music just vocals, a faster tempo gave this track a slight sound of The Arctic Monkeys but with a twist, I liked this track very much. A young band with a chance to improve and go from strength to strength.

And now to what I had thought would be the headline, Royworld (6 out of 10 tonight), before I go to the music I have to say a word about the lead vocalist, he is positively the tallest man I’ve seen on the stage of The Cockpit and perhaps one of the oddest looking. I wouldn’t go as far as to say ugly because he’s not but he does have a really interesting face, for some reason I was enthralled. The set opened with Elasticity, a great pop song, very catchy, one of those tracks which once in your head stays there annoyingly so. It’s a bright breezy number, which seems to have been written for its radio friendliness. Once again, it was the drums being just too loud which spoilt it, that and the feedback.

Royworld are being tipped for the top but I have to say that while the first few tracks they played were good by the time they were into the second half of the set I was becoming bored. The lead vocals are delivered in a very dramatic and unique style, which can become monotonous. If you need a comparison, think Keane, Talking Heads, The Feeling and a bit of Fleetwood Mac.

Another strong track is Tinman, this was paired as a double a-side with Elasticity and is another radio friendly pop tune, strong beat, crashing drums good guitar riffs and clever keyboards pulling it all together. The new single due for release on 3rd March is Man In The Machine, expect to hear this on the radio, it’s again a good pop tune. For me the stand out track of the set was Dust, very Keane in sound but with a definite overtones of The Buggles making it even more pop.

I struggled to hear the titles of many of the other tracks but another stand out track was Science, good music, strong on the beat, great keyboards with just the right amount of eeriness. While this was meant to be a love song, I would have to admit the lyrics were very strange, strange but nice all the same. The set came to an abrupt end and since it was only 9.30 I realised quickly, they weren’t the headline act. Whether I rant or rave about Royworld I have no doubt they will have a degree of success this summer, however for me they are just a little too similar to so many other good bands around at the moment so perhaps I wont be signing up for the fan club.

Just for the record Royworld are a four piece based in London, Rod Futrille (vocals) Rob Parker (Guitar) Tim Miles (keyboard) Gerry Morgan (drums), all the songs are written by Rod and his brother Crispin.

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