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Following on from 2010’s We Are The Royal, which was ablaze with snappy riffs and high-octane, good-time tunes, Save The Nation is much of the same from the Swedish four-piece, aside from a lessening of the debut’s punky thrust.

Everybody Wants To Be An Astronaut stands out with its jovial bounce akin to Green Day’s Holiday, Molotov hits The Hives spot again and Sailing Man is a giddy ode with a catchy hook. The harmonica in Stranger Friends… is a nice touch, too.

Royal Republic uphold a certain standard, as you might expect from a Roadrunner band, but there are moments that make you go, ‘Really?’ For instance, they roll out the old ‘I’m a dick’ pun in Addictive (weren’t Simple Plan doing that 10 years ago?), while the lyrics often fall short of the quirky mark. Even so, an album that lacks the fire of their first effort is almost compensated for by its raw energy and cheeky swagger.

With over 10 years’ experience writing for Metal Hammer and Prog, Holly has reviewed and interviewed a wealth of progressively-inclined noise mongers from around the world. A fearless voyager to the far sides of metal Holly loves nothing more than to check out London’s gig scene, from power to folk and a lot in between. When she’s not rocking out Holly enjoys being a mum to her daughter Violet and working as a high-flying marketer in the Big Smoke.