WL//WH Video Of The Day Royal Ottawa
As the name suggests, the Ottawa, Ontario‘s own 4-piece guitar rock outfit Royal Ottawa drops a video for “Golden Eyes”, lifted from the fresh new four-track EP, “Here Comes Everybody,” via the DIY label The Beautiful Music.
Mostly originated from an early ’80s new wave /post-punk band called Bugs Harvey Oswald, who brilliantly supported many legendary acts such as The Ramones, The Fall, Stray Cats, Bauhaus, Mission of Burma and many others, while sadly releasing the only 7” single, “Bye Bye,” in 1982, before disappearing from view.
Fast forward to 1996, the bulk of the members regrouped as Royal Ottawa and released the promising mini-album, “Heaven,” to then vanish again.
Skip forward once more to 2015, the superb full-length LP, “The World We Know,” finally saw the light of day, to get significant radio play at local radio stations as well as some interviews, which helped to set a more detailed focus on the band’s past.
It was followed several years later, in 2023, by the massive double album, “Carcosa”, from which the association with The Beautiful Music label kicked off.
Photo by John Major
Embedded in a nuanced time-defying rock classicism, the EP’s opener, “Golden Eyes,” deals with the harrowing rise and fall cycle of man and the world.
Relatable, rugged male vocals draw us in, wistfully introspecting through dynamic emotions laced with dual feelings of hope and comfort, as well as fear and pain, against falling backing cries, while gloomy bass pulses descend beneath hard-hitting, driving drum beats, charged with clashing cymbals, to form heavy distorted mists that subdue radiant layers of intricate ringing guitar riffs and nostalgic blowing key melodies, leading to a cathartic finale left whistling in the wind.
The paired visuals unfold like a scrapbook to travel through time with some of the band’s memorable live show posters. Along the way, a colorful studio with a mural on the wall and some candid group pictures of Royal Ottawa evoke an intimate vibe. Close-up shots, with an enhanced focus, reveal the front and back covers of the “Here Comes Everybody” EP to give all the details of what lies inside the album and who helped bring it all together.
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