The Royston Club’s ‘Songs For The Spine’ proves they are amongst the best upcoming bands
Upon release of their highly anticipated second record, the Wrexham quartet have successfully created an album full of deeply emotional lyricism and powerful instrumentation.
★★★★★
Photo: Sam Crowston
There is only one word that comes to mind when listening to the album in full: perfect.
Following 2023’s release of Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars, there has been much discourse surrounding the potential The Royston Club have. Selling out venues across the UK and establishing themselves as festival favourites over the past year has furthered the excitement around the band, and the release of their sophomore album has exacerbated this excitement even more than expected.
Songs For The Spine opens with an addictive track, Shivers, which is guaranteed to be added to every indie fan’s playlist immediately after first listen. Everything about the song blends together so well, from the vocals, the production, the guitars, and the lyricism. It is simply the perfect opener to set the tone for the following tracks.
From such a promising start, the high-energy, guitar-ridden tunes continue in the first single from the album, The Patch Where Nothing Grows. This track has quickly become a fan favourite since its release last year, and for good reason. Blistering guitar riffs and high-quality vocals lace the track and make it one of the standouts of the album. The striking, repetitive nature of “I need you around, I need you around / Without you, I drown, without you, I drown” is the perfect hook to give The Royston Club that festival-chanting anthem that makes bands so popular to watch live.
However, alongside all these indie rock sounds introduced in such an exciting start, there is something across the whole album that makes it click so well, in the vulnerable and emotive nature of lyricism. Not only is this evident on more acoustic and melodic tracks of the record, such as Cariad, a tender and slow-burning exploration of the emotions felt following a breakup, but even the more upbeat and guitar-heavy tracks take on emotional themes. Through this mixing of aching guitar riffs, striking vocals and heavy lyrics, The Royston Club achieve an album of dense, heartfelt songwriting combined with musical excellence.
Whether in the aforementioned standout tracks in the first half of the album, or in later, meaningful songs such as Spinning and Curses & Spit, the record is riddled with metaphorical references and personal topics that bands often dream they could write so perfectly about.
Ultimately, concluding such a deeply meaningful and enjoyable album is a track that could possibly be considered The Royston Club’s best work to date, The Ballad of Glen Campbell. Combining Tom Faithfull’s yearning vocals, slow-burning yet exciting builds, and flawless instrumentation, musically, every second of this six minutes has to be considered a masterpiece. There is even a sound reminiscent of the 2021 EP track Infatuated in the closing minutes, creating recollections of radio static over striking piano chords that perfectly close off a beautiful, artistic piece. This is a true ballad and the perfect closer to a brilliant album.
The only criticism found throughout the whole album is that some tracks don’t have the same repeatability and addictive factor that others evidently do. However, this comes with time, and as the album itself matures with time, it’s certain the tracks will also. And, despite this, the album still must be appreciated for what it is — a creative masterpiece, and certainly a contender for Album of the Year. There is no doubt at all that this affirms something fans have thought for a while: The Royston Club are some of the best in our generation.
Songs For The Spine is out now via Run On Records. Buy a physical copy here.