Jimmy Regal & The Royals

I saw Jimmy Regal & The Royals live a couple of years back supporting the mighty Cedric Burnside in London and I was struck then by how damn punchy and raw they sounded. Harmonica led Blues with echoes of Dr Feelgood & Manfred Mann and a wonderfully attacking sound.

So when this album slid through my letterbox I was both hopeful that the band I saw in Dingwalls would sound as alive and full-on on record and concern that the recording process would knock some of the roughness off them. I didn’t need to worry – this is as hard-edged and lo-fi as it gets and bloody wonderful too.

The band consist of Joff Watkins on harmonica & vocals, CJ Williams on guitar (he also wrote most of the songs here) and Sammy Samuels on drums & backing vocals – you don’t miss the presence of a bass guitar as the music is compressed into a remarkably tight soundscape .

From the outset, this is an album to dance to, to shake your hips to and let the rhythms invade your soul. It’s rock & roll, Blues, surf music and whacked-out-diner-blasts all through the 10 tracks.

It isn’t all one paced or frantic – on ‘Can’t Cry No More’ the band show a softer and more melodic side with some complex rhythms and real musicality – but they are best at the party stuff and I’ll go back to numbers like ‘That’s All It Took’ time and time again.

There are a few covers, Junior Kimbrough’s ‘All Night Long’ is right there in North Mississippi Allstars territory and Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Commit A Crime’ gets the full treatment. Dr John’s ‘Lights Out’ is a great way to close the album.

It ain’t pretty and it ain’t a masterpiece of originality but this is fresh, hearty and raw as a cut onion. Love it.