16.

Royal Republic

LoveCop

This album is ridiculous, but also ridiculously fun. Royal Republic are goodtime retro rockers playing in a pre-90s-angst sandpit. And they’re clearly having a ball. LoveCop features a mix of bombastic 80s big-hair metal, synthpop and party rock. The result is some kind of unholy mashup of Judas Priest, The Human League, and Kool & the Gang. A glance at the album cover is enough to tell you all you really need to know... Although it’s undoubtedly silly, LoveCop always manages to stay the right side of parody because of the sincerity of the delivery (that moustache is worn with real feeling) and – crucially – the sheer quality of the songs. This is a record that’s absolutely packed full of choruses to sing along to (see ‘Electra’ and ‘Wow Wow Wow’ – both just awesome). It’s also got funky riffs to make you stomp (for example, the aptly named ‘Boots’), and a couple of power ballads to bring on the tears (for example, ‘Razorlove’ 😢). I think 10 years ago I might well have been pretentiously dismissive of this record, but thankfully with age comes wisdom. And what’s wiser than piping undiluted sugar-fun into your earholes for 35 minutes? For an extra little bonus, why not check out Royal Republic’s live ‘mini cover’ of Metallica’s ‘Battery’ from their appearance at the Download Festival in 2019? It’s a doozy.