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Royale, The Sound Of Progressive Sci-Fi Yacht Metal

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 19, 2014 8:00PM

When the members of your band have day jobs at places like Chicago Music Exchange and Reverb.com, it means you have access to some pretty sweet gear. Royale takes full advantage of it too. Describing your sound as "progressive sci-fi yacht metal" might seem a bit gimmicky, but it happens to be accurate. The analog atmosphere conjured up on their recordings harkens back much further than the current crop of 1980s wannabes.

Their debut album .​.​.​As Long As The Money Lasted comes out in January, and with each new track that drops we're getting more and more excited to hear the whole thing. Here's another one, "Close to the Vest," a tune sporting electric piano offset by massive slabs of guitars. It perfectly captures Royale's heavy yet oddly mellow vibe. And is that the sound of the "L" we hear at the beginning?