Reigning Days – Eclipse (Marshall Records)
Reigning Days - Eclipse
Release Date: Out Now
South-Devon trio Reigning Days
have been chipping away at the edges of rock’n’roll success for a while now but
with this album they have given up on chipping away and blasted a hole in the
wall with a few sticks of dynamite set off with a tossed Zippo lighter. Signed
up to the excellent Marshall Records and dressed all in black, Reigning Days
have come to save British rock’n’roll but if it doesn’t want to be saved then,
well, tough shit. The album opens up with ‘Empire’ and the size, weight and
immediacy of this band is instantly obvious. This is Royal Blood but with
better melodies and more depth or Biffy Clyro with less introspection and it is
intensely good. On ‘Gravity’ there is a more math-rock vibe but that doesn’t detract
from the sheer scale of rock underpinned by the intricate guitar and bass riffs
which show that these gents have technical proficiency as well as chops.
The pace slows slightly on ‘Chemical’
but an insistent, twitchy beat keeps and edge to the music even though the
melodies and vocals are more akin to recent Arctic Monkeys tracks with a
crooner element and a sense of showmanship – definitely one of the highlights
of the album. ‘Friendly Fire’ is tailor made for the US market with it’s
Killers-esque theatrical side while ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ rides in to town on
the kind of bass line you’d expect from Chris Wolstenholme, ready to break
hearts and skulls in equal measure. The rollercoaster tips over the top and
hurtles towards the earth on ‘My Sweet Love’ as a sense of derailment is in the
air and when that chorus drops it’s all you can do to hang on and not lose your
lunch.
The half-way mark of this
ambitiously sized album is ‘Thrones’ which swaggers and sways with the assured
confidence of a band ready to have large crowds eating out of the palms of their
hands. Despite being one of the most over-used song titles in popular music, ‘All
I Wanna Do’ is a slick pop-rock track that sees Reigning Days draw comparisons
with label mates Rews which is high praise indeed, in my book. ‘Crazy Horse’
gurns and churns like a Queens of the Stone Age throbber with the drums marking
out the footsteps of a diesel fuelled machine and the guitars speaking of fire
breathing robots. With laser beam eyes.
 |
| Reigning Days - taking cover |
Recent single ‘Inhaler’ bounces
and judders in to life as another highlight of this collection, all distorted
vocals and glints in the eye, while ‘Renegade’ has an epic, Audioslave meets
Boy Hits Car vibe about the guitars which build in to an almighty and unstoppable
track. As the album approaches it’s conclusion, we have the more thoughtful ‘Do
You Feel?’ to contend with and I’m immediately reminded of how much I wish Chris
Cornell was still in this world. ‘Self Destruct’ renews the energy and is
surely a live favourite while closing track ‘Sound of the Future’ stirs from it’s
beastly slumber to see matters to an inevitable conclusion of explosions, eruptions
and a sense of there being no turning back. Reigning Days have managed to carve
out an exceptional collection of 14 tracks without any fillers which has refreshed
and reenergised the rock genre. Definitely in the running for album of the year
and definitely a band that should be getting more attention than most right
now.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/ReigningDays/
Live Dates:
27th April – Camden Rocks All-Nighter @ Nambucca,
London