There’s this lady in my place of business Fell in love on a whim, then asked herself, “Who is this?” Left her crying. In her mouth, a bad taste. And a call to the lawyers, in debt to her waste.
And I don’t blame her for smoking three packs a day. You can’t kill yourself fast if you just fade away. You can see it in her eyes. She’s seen one, two, one too many goodbyes.
I met a woman, whose abstract fears told an abstract story of twenty-six years. She’d sell her body, just to get a ride home, but she’d sell her soul not to be alone.
But I don’t blame her for the love she’s looking for you Because you can’t bet your life on what’s behind door number two. You can see it in her eyes. She’s seen one, two, one too many goodbyes.
Yeah, there is a saviour. A place where someone knows your name. The light’s on the hill, You can see him he’s real. And there are angels. They don’t just live in your dreams. The truth is in his eyes. Make this your last goodbye.
There’s a man I know who no one would listen to. He walked the earth, unfollowed and forgot. Love is all, love is all that he sought. And now he wants to love you.
Because he don’t blame you for the love he’s looking for you he knows you can’t bet your life on what’s behind door number two. You can see it in his eyes: This is your last goodbye.
Image credit: “Photo by Alex Green” (pexels/5700141)
There’s an old man trying to turn left, and a little boy chasing a brown dog. There’s a mad man going a little too fast, and a black and white car, and a man who plays god.
There’s a schoolgirl crossing Broadway at three and a football game in a vacant lot field. There’s a poor poet wondering what is it I’m doing. Well, I’m wondering: Is it for real?
Is it real, is it sane, tell me, what’s in a name? And, where will you be in five minutes? Is it real, is it sane, tell me, who’s to blame? And, I’ll go home when I’m finished. In five minutes. Is it for real?
There’s a family wondering what they’ve got left, and a fireman missing his black and white dog. And there’s a boy and a girl moving a little too fast, but not a soul searching for God.
There’s an actress belonging on Broadway, she’s 33 and she’s wondering how it must feel. There’s a poor poet wondering, “What is it I’m doing?” Well, I’m wondering, “Is it for real?”
This is how you felt, and the hand you were dealt will never be understanded, so bloom where you’re planted.
When she’s drinking, She says things I don’t think I believe, and I’m not one to practice to deceive. But I’d be lying if I told you, That I’m not dying when I hold you. And the more I get to know you, The more of me I’ll show you.
When I say, “I love you,” She reaffirms that I’m a nice guy. When I say, “I love you,” She reaffirms how much she likes me, But, she can’t say, “I love you.” She can’t say, “I love you.” It just might take to long.
When I’m angry, I say things I know I shouldn’t believe, And one day, I’ll say what I can’t retrieve. But, it’s been so long since I’ve held you, And it’s been days since I felt your smile, And I guess I’ll just get over it for a while.
The curse of remembering, This concept of dismembering. What I wish I was, Why I’m not because: You said no because you couldn’t But I know it’s ’cause you wouldn’t.
The best way to describe the Royal Blood sound is like a Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pimpkins meets Led Zeppelin or The White Stripes. The key is a single bass guitar split into two signals using a tuner or A/B into a higher octave or chord generator. We send the bass signal to a traditional rock bass setup, but the single-octave, double-octave, or octave-fifth chord are distorted and sent to an electric guitar amp. Without distortion, the setup approximates a 12-string bass.
Guitarists have used “octavers” for years. The pedal produces a lower octave note far simpler than a POG by halving the frequency, say from A440hz to A220hz, which is easily done. The POG artificially generates an octave higher using more complicated math, for example from A440hz to A880hz.
One key is to send the generator a smooth, round note, so there’s as little noise as possible in the octave generation process. Distortion and tubes are happy to restore some noise to the signal once the transition is complete. While killer bass tone is central to the formula, I’ll focus on the higher octave chain.
The Electro-Harmonix POG2 accomplishes this effortlessly. It tracks well, has a million options and tones, and costs nearly $400. A killer investment for Royal Blood, who tours with two on his board with different settings for the double-octave and the octave-fifth setting, which can also be accomplished with a Boss Octave OC-5 (with a new higher octave setting on the model #5) or Harmonist PS-6 ($135–155).
The ZOOM bass and guitar MultiStomp series contain pitch options that simulate these pedals as well as the tuner, splitter, EQ, distortion, and amp-simulation. BUT. These pedals have serious latency issues and do not track well. For around $99 they are indispensable for trying out sound concepts with dozens of stomp and amp simulators, but poor for tracking on account of a significant delay.
The best recommendations below have little or no latency or delay and track basically as well as their Electro-Harmonix and Boss counterparts.
VAN OCTPUS
VSN Guitar Octave Effect Pedal For Electric Guitar Precise Polyphonic Octave Effects Generator Octpus Guitar Pedals True Bypass Mini Size
Two higher octaves notes aka 1/2 octaves or 12/24 steps – Nails the classic Royal Blood tone.
These are my favorite independent/local/self-funded albums I can think of today. While I was making the list, I realized that independent and indie are not the same thing. Also, Radiohead’s self-released material doesn’t count. Here they are in random order:
Triple Lutz – Vampire Screenplay* (Dallas, TX)
Centro-matic – Love You Just The Same (Denton, TX)
Pedro The Lion – The Only Reason I Feel Secure (Is Because I Am Validated By My Friends)
David Gray – White Ladder (Self-Funded)
Caedmon’s Call – My Calm, Your Storm (Houston, TX)
galleryCat – Bi-Polaroid* (Dallas, TX)
ENIAC – All That’s Left of Us (Denton, TX)
Spilling Poetry – Invisible (Lubbock, TX)
Mexico – If You Wanted to Go* (Dallas, TX)
Flat People – Flat People* (Dallas, TX)
The Promise Ring – Wood Water (Jade Tree)
Gone Since Five – This Is How You Felt* (Lubbock, TX)
Pedro The Lion – It’s Hard to Find a Friend (Seattle, WA)
Rich Williams 