REIGNING DAYS – ALBUM REVIEW


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.


Live Dates:

27th April – Camden Rocks All-Nighter @ Nambucca, London

Comments