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.
