Album Review: Royal Republic – LoveCop

There’s no secret around here that we frickin’ love Royal Republic. Band of the festival at Bloodstock last year (for me at least) with a great catalogue of bouncy, silly, poppy, catchy rock numbers. We’ve very much been waiting for LoveCop since we had a release date, and the singles released so far haven’t taken the edge off at all.

For those who’ve not encountered this bunch of Swedish cheese-merchants before, think The Darkness meets ABBA. Possibly with an influence of Gandalf or Sabrina the Teenage Witch, as they cast a spell over a whole audience when you see them live. You just have to boogie! This need to seat-jive (I’m at work on my lunch as I write this) kicks in with “My House” which sounds like it was both written and recorded in the 80s. Not a cover of the Terrorvision classic (which is almost a shame), it’s a great start and leads into the pseudo-sexual title track that is already out as a single. The guitar tones in this one remind me of “Money For Nothing” and I’d not be surprised if this was deliberate.

Good as they are, they pale compared to the bounce-tastic “Wow! Wow! Wow!”. You know the whole “Dance like nobody’s watching” thing? Screw it. Even if they are, this will have you bouncing and waving your arms. Folk heading to Download will inevitably get a chance to enjoy it from the Opus stage on Sunday, you lucky bastards. They’ll certainly warm you up for Machine Head.

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“Lazerlove” has also been out for a little while and, like “My House” it could have come out in 1986 and been dressed in a power suit with huge shoulder pads. A definite “lighters in the air” number. The tempo ramps up again for more of a two-step with “Boots”. If you tapped your toes to this one, you’d be wearing holes in the carpet in no time. Maybe the only thing missing from this album is some disco funk… but, no! “Sha-La-La-Lady” to the rescue which ditches the shoulder pads for a pimp suit.

For anyone who still dreams of the 80s (and maybe 70s), but who likes to rock it to more modern music, there simply isn’t a better band out there. Much as this is a good album, Royal Republic absolutely slay it live and my breath could not be any more bated for a tour announcement so I can hear some of these songs cranked right up and I can go mental with hundreds of other likeminded individuals. I swear the only reason these guys haven’t been put forward for the Eurovision Song Contest is that it would be too unfair on the other bands.

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LoveCop is out now!

Header image by Jonatan Rennemark

Check out all the bands we review in 2024 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!

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June 17, 2024 11:35 AM

[…] The announcement follows the recent release of their eagerly anticipated new album, LoveCop via Odyssey Music which we reviewed recently. […]