During quarantine, musicians were left with few options to rehearse, perform and record. They had to find ways to continue being creative, without exposure to the virus. About 30 days into lockdown, DIY recordings started popping up online. One release that has been on my regular rotation the past few months, is the demo from South Shore Royals.
I reached out to bassist, Lewis Dimmick (Our Gang, True Colors, My Rifle), to get the lowdown on how these recordings came about. Lew, “So I play bass, my buddy Mike D plays guitar, and my buddy Billy sings. Mike, formerly of Kill Your Idols and Sheer Terror, recorded the guitar at his house and put it over a drum machine. I did bass and Billy did vocals on our phones with voice notes, and Mike slipped them into the track. Easy as that!”
South Shore Royals play tight Hardcore Punk. Mixing speed and mid-tempo songs with thoughtfully structured transitions and great vocal harmonies. You quickly detect the oi influences that complement their music in the best way. The flow of the demo had my feet tapping, as I forgot they were playing along to a drum machine. My favorite song is “Never Die”, but every song brings something different to the fold.
South Shore Royals sound extremely promising, I look forward to hearing more music from the band. Their brand of music has a compelling sound that stands out in so many ways. Their demo was originally released with 4 songs, but the band has recently added 4 more! You can snatch their demo on Bandcamp.