Album Review: The Bombay Royale

There's one thing I don't understand - how has no one else done this before? A record of pure Indian Raja tracks, hearking back to the golden days of 1970s Bollywood? Genius. Bloody genius.

While the whole idea may be overshadowed by the arguably incessant saturation of Bollywood in modern culture (thanks, Tarantino), The Bombay Royale have nevertheless stuck to their guns in You Me Bullets Love. With the cover sleeve meeting somewhere between James Bond and Mother India, you have a pretty good idea of what you're gonna get. Monkey Fight Snake immediately puts you in the right frame of mind, with sharp synth, mellow bass and an absolutely huge horn section blending into a colourful swirl of Raja goodness. The title track breaks out the surf-rock (somehow referencing the '70s Bollywood films that themselves referenced '60s American surf films), but it's the mesmerising Hindi vocals bursting out that capture the imagination. Throughout the record, it's the combination of the extremely talented ten-piece band and the fantastic Hindi singers that make it so great. And each track represents its own theme; Sote Sote Adhi Raat purveys the spacey proto-funk of Bollywood Kung Fu films (have you seen Indian Spiderman? No? See it. Seriously), while Bobbywood is a perfect rendition of mod-rock – you can just see 50 dancers waving their arms maniacally in front of you.

Sure, if you're not a fan of Bollywood, you're obviously not going to dig this entirely. But for those of you who do, get this record, or even better, see them live (they're from Melbourne!). Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go watch Indian Spiderman again.