Palaye Royale : " the Bastards"

I heard this band's first album  a few years ago and it reminded me more of Panic at the Disco's earlier work, than what is going down here two albums later. This time the opener has ample pop smarts, there is a more driven rock feel to the second song. They are hooky and explosive with out pandering too much to girls that would have been enamoured with Myspace if we were in 2004. There are punchy sections , but I would not call this metal. "Anxiety" works of a refined groove with dirty edges. I can hear where fans of both Marilyn Manson and Fall Out Boy might like this album. Angrier than Fall Out Boy, but not as dark as Manson. He is almost rapping in parts of " Tonight is the Night I Die" . It feels like the male counterpart to In This Moment. The song writing is really clever and catchy. That goes a long way.

The more theactrical sounds of their older work returns on " Lonely". It works well of these smoother grooves. They shift into funk for "Hang Onto Your Self".  If you want to be goth, but are not ready to give up on Bruno Mars, this is a good place to start. They stay in a similar zip code for "Fucking With My Head". This might be more commerical than the bulk of the bands I cover here, but there is no denying that this is well done from a production and song writing stand point. To area's where pop music normally shines. This is more rock than pop, but not by a great deal. The radio ready dance grooves continue with "Nervous Breakdown".  They break from the formula to throw in a melodic bridge. I had to listen to "Nightmares" twice before I really paid attention to it. The bass tone reminds me of Muse, but that is where the comparisons end.

The mood shifts for "Masochist" which is the first song that gets dark. Dynamically it packs more of a punch than the bulk of this album. They are less aggressive on "Doom" , but it is colored in similar shades of gray. "Black Sheep" has arena rock aspirations. The hook is hard to argue with . There is almost an 80s like smoothness to "Stay". The album ends with the piano ballad "Redeemer" which is dynamic and not as anti-climatic as it could have been. I will round this up to a 9.5 ,as it catchy, fun  and easy to listen to . What rock should be.