Next up in our Sound of 2014 Catchup Roundup: the loudest guys in the room!

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Patrick St. Michel: As someone who thinks guitar-centric bands can make great music in 2013, “Out of the Black” reminds me a lot of outfits will just recycle the same-old same-old and make me think everyone should just buy a sampler already.
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David Lee: Madeline_Kahn_flames.mov
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Alfred Soto: With lyrics like “Don’t breathe when I talk cuz you haven’t been spoken to” the guitars had better be petulant too, never mind the vocals. Note too the precision of those stun bursts, the unexpected drum patterns. Formal competence, in short.
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Crystal Leww: There’s been a continuum of two-piece acts wailing on nothing but drums and bass, the most recent iteration being a couple of kick-ass girls from LA by the band name of Deap Vally. Royal Blood come from England, and they’re pretty great. I love how this starts and stops, and I like the tension in Mike’s voice. He’s not quite as great a vocalist as the Deap Vally girls or the Death from Above 1979 guys, but it works out.
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Brad Shoup: The breakdown riff and its attendant production are exactly the sorts of things Electrical Audio was built to repair. And yet, that riff’s the only peg I can hang anything on. It sure isn’t the gun metaphor.
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Edward Okulicz: The bullets here aren’t from the mouth, they’re coming out of the pummelling bass. It does more than enough to stun, but the vocals on top aren’t up to the kill.
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Anthony Easton: The tommy gun drums on this are monstrous, and just slightly off beat, and the yell growl of the vocals takes away the nostalgia just a little bit. It’s just rock and roll, but I like it. 
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