The Old Romantic Killer Band – The Swan With Two Necks

Let’s skip the pleasantries and wordy introductions and get straight to the point – The Old Romantic Killer Band slay. They’re the kind of band the neighbours must hate, intent on making so much damn awesome noise that it’s almost impossible to believe that they’re merely a duo. Bluesy paeans to the burnt, twisted fuselage of relationships channelling the spirit of Kurt Cobain if he fronted the Black Keys litter this short but oh-so-very sweet album (nine tracks, twenty-two minutes) to such an extent that a pin randomly stuck in the tracklisting would yield a great choice of single.

The standouts here are undoubtedly the rockier numbers such as ‘Things To Come’ and ‘Trouble Causer’, but tracks like ‘You Knew I Had A Darkness In Me’ that don’t end like they’re trashing a music shop with one of those new double-decker planes are still superb in their own right, and doubly affecting. Sitting here critiquing this body of work seems almost impotent, however; the Old Romantics clearly intended this as a saccharine thrill to be ingested down the ol’ lugholes. If one criticism can be laid at their feet, no doubt to be stomped into the dirt, it is that they have a tendency to suddenly cease when the raw energy threatens to fizz into the air. But then, as the saying goes, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.

Those looking for a band to rival the vitality of early White Stripes (before they went all ‘overblown bagpipes’ on our arses) should seek no longer. The Old Romantic Killer Band have found the elusive mix of being able to pull off both breakneck anthems infused with the odd slower burner, and with it created a startlingly furious yet touching record.