Dirt Royal - New Single "Dr Weekend (Mr Week)" - Out Now!

Brighton based band Dirt Royal have just released their brand new single "Dr Weekend (Mr Week)" on Sick Boy Records. For a young band they do somewhat surprisingly take me back to my own "youth" of the late Seventies and early-Eighties and the halcyon age of seeing those great New Wave and 2-Tone bands on Top of The Pops. In fact "Dr Weekend" really reminds me of The Chords, always my favourite amongst those "Mod Revival" bands. There are hints of The Clash and The Jam in Dirt Royal but also a touch of good old fashioned jangling Rickenbacker Power Pop too and they have even been known to tackle a bit of Ska. Come to think of it, lyrically they cover a lot of ground that The Specials did so well - teenage boredom, being broke, early pregnancies, the 9-5 hum drum world of being "factory fodder" and, as in the new single, living for the weekend to get smashed, a chance to let yourself go, only to get stuck in that same cycle again come Monday morning. 

I guess there is a touch of The Libertines about Dirt Royal, there's no doubting that bassist and vocalist Charlie does bear a passing resemblance to Pete Doherty, and whenever I have seen them play live there is that sort of chemistry between him and guitarist and co-vocalist Leon that exists with Doherty and Carl Barat – although I hope that resemblance doesn’t extend quite as far as one of them robbing the other’s flat! The B-Side "It Was You" has become one my favourite Dirt Royal tracks, it has some superb Shangri-La's style melodies, allied to some punchy guitars, you know when the Ramones used to tackle those great classic Rock 'n' Roll tracks like "Let's Dance" and "Do You Wanna Dance?". There are two bonus tracks, "The Man Who Was King" is a full throttle speedy Punk Rock blast and they slow things down for an acoustic driven "It's Not All About You".

Dirt Royal are out on tour so please check out their official web-site for more details information. You can order the new 7" vinyl single direct from Recordstore at their site here.

Dirt Royal "Girl In The Shop/Busy Man" New Double A-Side Single Out Soon...

Brighton based Mod/Punk three-piece Dirt Royal will soon be releasing a brand new Double A-Side Single called "Girl In The Shop/Busy Man" on Sickboy Records. This young band cite The Jam and The Clash amongst their influences and remind me of the Mod Revival bands of the late Seventies/early Eighties with their melodic and powerful songs. Here's the video to "Girl In The Shop" which was filmed by Chris Ellis and features Charlie Stanton as the girl in the shop!

The band have two gigs in Brighton coming up, firstly supporting The Spitfires at the Proud Galleries on March 14th and then with The Stone Foundation at the Price Albert on June 06th. Keep an eye on their official web-site for details on how to order the single...

You can check out our review, photos and a video of "Bobbys Without a Cause" from the first time we saw Dirt Royal play live at the 12 Bar Club in London last year here.

Dirt Royal: "That Isn't Me" / "North Street"...New Single and Tour Dates

Dirt Royal have just released their brand new new single "That Isn't Me"/"North Street" and it's the first of two singles to be released this month. Recorded at Gatehouse studios by Andy Rowland, the double singles plus two B-sides will be available on CD and online. The band will head off on tour starting July 31st and taking in dates at Brighton, Chichester, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Leeds, Wakefield, Cawley, Bristol, Oxford and then ending up back in their home-town of Brighton again. Dirt Royal are a great young band, and well worth catching live, you can see a review, video and photographs from their 12 Bar show supporting TV Smith on the Blog here.

Dirt Royal at The 12 Bar - Photo by Steve Worrall

For more info on how to order the single, check out the Dirt Royal Facebook page.

Dirt Royal at London Callin' 12th Anniversary Party at The 12 Bar Club June 07th

Dirt Royal at The 12 Bar Club - Photo by Steve Worrall

Tonight's gig at the 12 Bar Club was the 12th Anniversary party for Barnet Mark's London Callin' Club night, and he picked a great line-up to celebrate the event. The first band on were Dirt Royal who have already picked up some impressive fans. Andy from The Past Tense recommended them and was there at the front of the stage, proudly wearing his Dirt Royal button badge. The Brighton based three-piece are young, guitarist Leon, bassist Charlie and drummer Loz all being in their early twenties and Barnet Mark mentioned to me that they were the band he wished he'd been in when he was their age...! I can see why, as Dirt Royal are full of confidence and have a great set of fully formed, tight and tuneful songs that does belie their age. Starting off with "Sick Boy Method" you are struck by the chemistry between Leon and Charlie, who share lead vocals duties as they crash about the stage, attacking their songs with real aggression, it's a great performance. Dirt Royal have a classic three-piece sound, and with the importance of the melodic backing vocals and Charlie's prominent bass, it's easy to think of The Jam. However, the band have a bit more of a varied palette which is evident in the second song "It Was You", and later on in "Factory Fodder", which both have a Fifties/early Sixties Rock & Roll feel. It's on these two songs, and their cover of Bobby Freeman's classic "Do You Wanna Dance?", that shows they have a lot of varied influences to draw from. So, a very promising band to watch out for, and I'd recommend getting hold of their great six track E.P. called "About Now", which they were selling for only one pound, and you really can't much better than that!

Dirt Royal at The 12 Bar - Photo by Steve Worrall

Here's a video of "Bobbys Without a Cause" filmed on the night. Check out the band's web-site for more information on upcoming gigs and to order their excellent "About Now".