U.S. Royalty
Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., United States
Music
Press
http://www.modernluxury.com/digital.php?e=WASH
pg 54 - Modern Luxury
Walk in at 9:30 on the dot. Spot the young lads of U.S. Royalty. Any major dude will tell you that these gents claim to be men of leisure, but when they take the stage, whether the venue be RnR Hotel or singing karaoke at the Banana Café, it’s nothin’ but business time. The business of rockin’. And they do it well.
Embracing a love for all good things pop ‘n roll, Royalty puts on a heck of a show. Working with catchy guitar lines that possess the familiarity of classics while maintaining a modern finesse, one could imagine their songs covered by anyone from Bad Company to The Killers. Thornley the younger’s guitar lines reveal an appreciation for early ’80s new wave melody, and when combined with drummer Luke Adams’ right-on-the-money beat-making and Jacob Michael doing one sick bass-player dance, the rhythm section keeps the band and crowd driving to downright hop-able grooves. And, shit, John if you don’t remind me of a young Bruce Springsteen. Soon, someone will be paying these guys royalties for some time. - Brightest Young Things
#10 - U.S. Royalty (DC)
(1) comments
Joined: May 2008
Highest Position: #10
Discovered By: Email
Trend: Up
Sounds Like: Pitchfork-esque with commercial appeal
Why are they on the list? They have great songs and there is just something about them.
TDC has a history of putting brand new bands in the Top Ten. We did it with Forever The Sickest Kids (Jan. '07), The Maine (Jan. '07) and Brave Citizens (Jan. '08). Some bands just have that X-Factor. I think this band does. Let's see how this pans out. Do they really only have 380 friends on MySpace? Not for long.
BuzzTracks: Every Summer, Raincoats
- The Daily Chorus
Who? No, they're not a supergroup featuring members of the Clinton and Bush families -- that wouldn't make for very compelling rock music (although Bill does plays a mean sax). Instead, U.S. Royalty is (fittingly) a Washington, D.C.-based outfit that specializes in swaggering, soul-infused indie rock; imagine Cold War Kids if you replaced their pseudo-gospel sermonizing with dizzily descending guitar lines and a brighter outlook on life. With propulsive rhythms destined to move more feet than a parade for a queen, monarchial rule never sounded so good.
Their Latest: U.S. Royalty's self-released, self-titled debut EP emerged yesterday on iTunes.
Recommended if you like... Cold War Kids, Spoon, What Made Milwaukee Famous
- Spin Magazine
Your summer soundtrack just got a punch of posh.
My phone rings too late, and I pick it up even though I shouldn't, and at the other end, I hear,
"Can you write about US Royalty before they get really big and everybody writes about them?"
And I'm like, um.
The thing is, this isn't the first time I've heard US Royalty's name, and also, I really like them. The band - four boys - hails from DC, and when asked about their influences, says "Facebook."
But listen to their music, and you'll realize, not quite - instead, these kids sound like a garage-band Beach Boys, not refined enough to have a revolutionary - or a manufactured - sound, but not stupid enough to neglect pop-culture chords and drum beats that let you dance.
"I think they sound like the Killers," crackles the girl on the other end of my phone, and yeah, I guess that's true too, but unlike Sam's Town (sorry), you can actually play their mellow back beats over and over without wanting to drink hard liquor.
So give them a shot - they're great for jumping around in your room or playing under a party, and when "they get really big" you won't allow yourself to like them anymore.
Isn't that just the way?
FARAN KRENTCIL - Nylon Magazine
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
From the bluesy swagger of the album opener “Hollywood Hollows” to the soaring, Washington Irving inspired anthem “Equestrian,” it is evident that MIRRORS, the debut full length from U.S. Royalty, is an album of grand scope and range. It is a document of exploration and discovery. Songs kindle a spectrum of locales as the band laces a thread of longing and movement throughout the entire album to create a cinematic experience. MIRRORS is a cohesive and unified collection.
“With this record we wanted to present a body of work, a complete thought,” says singer John Thornley. To achieve this, the band wrote and rewrote songs for a year, demoing and dissecting while on the road and at home. John continues, “Because we traveled for about a year and a half before we recorded the album, there is definitely a travel vibe to the record ”
In March 2010, the band teamed up with engineer Gus Oberg (The Strokes, Albert Hammond Jr., Bloc Party) and Justin Long to begin recording the album. While in the studio, as a cohesive vision of the album began to come into focus, old songs were dropped in favor of new songs being written. The band recently released the first single off the album, “Equestrian,” and set a release date for the debut album, January 25th 2011.
Shared experiences, traveling and playing together, informed the writing process as did a steady intake of Kubrick, Godard, McCarthy, and Spaghetti Westerns. The sun-bleached Ennio Morricone soundtracks factored heavily into the scope and range of MIRRORS as the band channeled the sense of epic drama his most memorable pieces evoke - those timeless studies in tension and release.
U.S. Royalty formed in 2008 in Washington, D.C. Built around the lifelong musical collaboration of brothers John and Paul Thornley, vocals/piano and guitar, respectively, and rounded out by Jacob Michael (bass), and Luke Adams (drums), the group has refined and expanded their collective vision since their earliest practices spent shivering around a single heater while ensconced in an abandoned trailer in rural Maryland.
While the band had a collection of demos recorded mainly to book gigs they were approached by Brooklyn-based Engine Room Recordings to release a selection of the songs on a 7-inch entitled Midsommar. They have made appearances at SXSW, NXNE, Art Basel and CMJ. They have been featured in Esquire, SPIN, The New York Times, The Washington Post and highlighted on NPR. Their work with Gant Rugger has garnered them attention in the fashion world and created unexpected bridges in the blogosphere, their music has accompanied various web-based promotional films for the label, and the band members will be featured in the Swedish line’s upcoming 2011 Spring Collection.
With the release of their debut album, U.S. Royalty delivers on capturing the volatility and explosiveness that define their live performances. While taking cues from the players of old, they treat performances as feverish outpourings of rock ‘n roll energy and emotion. For them, there is no reason not to leave it all on the stage every night as a testimony to the music that moves them. U.S. Royalty aims for the grand and the timeless but insists on the raw and the unplanned as they forge their own way in the current musical landscape.
U.S. Royalty’s self-released debut album, MIRRORS, will be available starting January 25th
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