Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
In a time of uncertainty, the act of conviction, faith, and inevitability will carry weight where those who profess to forgone conclusions, supposition, and rumour, will fear to tread.
The sceptics in the world have A Whole Lot of Nothin’ to prove except their own downfalls and the words they sometimes choke upon, for nothin’ ain’t worth a thing, unless it has the swing, the grove and the power of illumination in a world that seems hell bent on finding ways for us all to sit and worry ourselves to death in the dark.
If you want love, find a partner, if you want friendship find a dog to treat you as an equal, if you want a great time listening to the groove and the lyrical splendour, then a sure fire way of conviction is to be in the presence of Nashville’s The Royal Hounds when they are in full strut and in control; for there are few in this world that will take the lead in audience appreciation as The Royal Hounds.
Originality can arguably be seen as a fading loose cannon, especially if you don’t know where to look. The shots fired can be seen as being from the same ACME lab. as others being used in the arsenal assault, and yet, if the senses are keen, if the eyesight, the nostrils and the hearing combine to pursue and hunt down the truth behind the cynic’s apparent ease with nothing, if we approach life through the keen wisdom and intelligence of the faithful hound, we will encounter the beauty that the cynic wishes us to ignore, and instead see a whole lot of everything.
It is everything that The Royal Hounds have that makes the listener embrace them. The showmanship, the humour, the strength of personality and will; this is a trio that to which understanding that howlin’ at the moon is for wolves, it takes a real hound to understand it can have, and create, music to listen to as it sees the natural satellite cross the sky.
As tracks such as the opening uproarious scream of delight of Cheap Drunk, I Just Can’t Two-Step, Pickin In The Graveyard, the excellent Krismastofferson, I Hope You Go To Hell, Invitation To Be Lonely and the sublime Bring Out The Barrel Of Beer all leave their sizeable footprints in the listener’s mind and soul, the tracks of the Royal Hound’s lives as they stand today as one of the hardest working bands in Nashville is to be admired, to be savoured.
A Whole Lot Of Nothin’ is perhaps the soundtrack of our own lives, especially if we don’t take the opportunity to adapt to the situation around us. Nothing comes from nothing, so the saying goes, and yet with one wry smile and a fixed grin, nothing brings out the best for The Royal Hounds, and they deserve every moment of joy it brings the fans.
The Royal Hounds release A Whole Lot Of Nothin’ on October 15th.
Ian D. Hall