Royal Headache are audacious and brash. Front man Shogun is brazen and self-deprecating. When you shove all those qualities into a jagged pop song, you have Royal Headache’s debut self-titled album. It’s an ingenious piece of work that is honest and unsympathetic. Royal Headache effortlessly maintains a fast and energetic pace, Shogun’s gravelly vocals always spilling out something tongue-in-cheek, making it difficult to pick up the subtle moments of almost-sadness that are there. However, this is of benefit to the listener, as the album reveals more and more of itself on every listen and can be enjoyed on many different levels. Whether being silently studied in a bedroom, or being blared at a party of people spilling tinnies all over the carpet, Royal Headache is a rough-cut masterpiece.

The album opens with ‘Never Again’, followed by ‘Really in Love’; the perfect opening duo. While both are robust punk songs, ‘Never Again’ oozes a foolhardy confidence, while ‘Really In Love’ displays a sense of desperation in Shogun’s voice, though both equally songs one can lose their shit to. ‘Down the Lane’ is the song about admiring a woman from afar. “"I've been alone/ and I'd take you home/But my bedroom smells like cum” Shogun sings matter-of-factly; a vulgarity you know you heard, but aren’t quite sure. ‘Honey Joy’ features some Gospel-esque keyboard resonances, before ending the album with ‘Pity’; a basic but up-beat rock songs for one final jump around.

Comparisons to The Saints or The Jam are lazy, but a good indicator of the aesthetic this Sydney band manages to create. Along with Witch Hats’ Pleasure Syndrome, Dick Diver’s New Start Again and The Twerps self-titled, all albums released within the last couple of months, it’s a pretty good fucking time in Australian music at the moment.

Review Score: 9/10