This collaboration “project” came forth from the solo outings of Finnish top bassist Jan-Olof Strandberg (born in 1956, he listened to the likes of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and Black Sabbath as a young teenager, and picked up abass at age 14 to fool around with his friends; he then studied music at the Pop-Jazz Conservatoire in Helsinki, and pursued music studies at Helsinki's Music Conservatory, switching to upright bass; it was then that he
Mad Sin has been a benchmark for years in the punk rock scene, 25 years to be exactly. Well, not really in the punk rock scene, but rather in a subgenre, called psychobilly. Because of this 25th anniversary, a big birthday present was created as in a brand new live cd and dvd, called 25 Years-Still Mad. The entire thingy was recorded in their hometown Berlin.
When I listened to this album, I couldn’t shake of the impression that this band, or it’s music, has certain similarities with what a band like Fall Out Boy brings. Do they take themselves seriously, or is it their intention to put some humor in their music? The music of Royal Republic can best be described as hard rock with a good dose of punk thrown in, but brought in a rather radio- friendly way.
