After recently becoming the first band to officially sign at Ragged Head Records, headed by producer Jon Landry (The Stanfields), Halifax rockers The Royal Volts have wrangled their whirlwind sound into Hard Landings, a six-track album of some faithful, old-fashioned classic rock.
The EP is an ode to the band’s work hard/play hard mentality, with a series of loud, spunky strings paired with an overarching attitude that says “I mean business.” Indeed, there’s no doubts that this group puts their heads down and just grinds out the tunes.
“Bad Thing” is exemplary of this, pondering over ethics and times when ethics were absent, before quickly picking up the pace that we’ve come to know them for. Shortly after, they crank their energy exponentially, and at once this initially-bluesy tune becomes one of the loudest rock-fests the album has to offer. “H.E.A.V.Y.” takes a page right out of this book, delivering one big, noisy, party directly into your headphones. With a title like that coming from a band like this, would you really expect otherwise?
“King of the Road” takes a different route, so to speak; a fast and fun track with all of the energy and enthusiasm present throughout the album. It wouldn’t be terribly surprising to find this track amongst the soundtrack of an indie racing game.
Though the sheer volume of the EP suits a group like The Royal Volts, the production that enabled such levels resulted in a noticeable distortion in their lyrics especially, which made it difficult to pin down the meaning in the overwhelming majority of their tracks. If they meant to be loud, they’re spot on.
Nevertheless, the band’s sophomore album will be a fine addition to headbangers young and old based on its nostalgic sound and energy alone.
Tour Dates:
03.20.20 – Charlottetown, PE @ Hunter’s Ale House*
03.21.20 – Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar*
04.03.20 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capital Complex*
04.04.20 – Halifax, NS @ Sniggily Wiggily’s*
*Almost certainly cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.