Royal Holland

Volume Two: Flamingos

Independent Release, 2015

Cincinnaties, Ohio, gives us Royal Holland, which sounds like a cruise ship bound for the Caribbean, but isn’t. No, he’s a singer/songwriter and this five song EP is smart and chock full of sparkling folk melodies which suddenly burst into flat out rockers.

“The Grave opens up this collection and at first, everyone playing sounds timid to be there. But with the second verse, Holland and the band take ownership of the song and the moment.

After a light and airy beginning, “Flamingo” catches fire toward the end, with a spirited and combustible lead. “Polaroid Blues” is a rollicking number sweetened by vocals extolling “She looks pretty good to me.”

Holland is a relatable everyman who doesn’t so much opt for story telling as much conveying incidents most people can identify with. “My tears are engineers/their working overtime,” he sings easily on “These Mundane Lives.”

What Royal Holland needs to do with this smart, punchy collection of melodies is to continue his hard work with the tour eternal and make everyone everywhere hear what he has to say, post haste.

This is the picture perfect pop. With enough jangle, distortion, and melody to be the sort of act who can write the next batch of songs we would otherwise expect from Cheap Trick or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In other words, the sort of artist everyone likes that isn’t (thankfully) Fleetwood Mac. Radio may not be ready for something as wonderfully entertaining as Royal Holland.