Royal Headache: Opening for Black Keys Doesn't Faze Aussie Band

Royal Headache look like they haven't showered in days. An hour before the Aussie punk-pop band's set in Chicago, frontman Shogun is sleeping off last night's debauchery, somewhere. Bassist Joe is going over the merch money, and keeps losing count. In Minneapolis the night before, the band -- made up of members known only on a first-name basis: Shogun, Joe, drummer Shortty and guitarist Law -- only got two hours of sleep, partying it up with the pals whose couches they crashed on.

If they had the chance to cure their current "royal headaches," Law says two pizzas and some Mountain Dew would do the trick. "Relax and watch a movie, like a comedy with Will Ferrell or Adam Sandler," he says, sounding like he's daydreaming. "A lot of pepperoni, and lots of cheese and two gallons of Mountain Dew. Don't leave bed. You're in for about four hours here."

This is only Royal Headache's second time in the U.S., yet their show in the back room of the Chicago's Burlington is somehow sold out. While the venue barely fits 150 people, this October they will find themselves incredulously playing in front of thousands at sold-out stadiums in their native Australia when they open for the Black Keys. "There are gonna be a good 30,000 people there, but they'll probably be 30,000 people that are going to hate us, so there's not too much pressure," philosophizes Joe.

All of this seems confusing, maybe even a little miraculous, but nonetheless it's somehow happening for the disheveled, self-managed band who all hold full-time jobs back in Sydney. In May, the four-man project released their self-titled debut, a set of 12 songs averaging two minutes in length, accompanied by a DIY music video for the punchy "Girls," filmed at Law's parents' backyard pool.

"It's a good banging record," he says. "You have really nice fast songs, and slow ones where you can catch your breath a little bit so then you can keep on banging. Kids be losing their virginity to this record."

Simple and immediate guitar, drum and bass riffs alongside Shogun's manic rants about regret and love reflect today's punk in the way early Strokes albums did for garage. On a bad night, Royal Headache's set can clock in at all of 15 minutes; on a good night they're looking at 30 minutes.

"The start of this band, we didn't have some five-year plan to make it," explains Shortty. "We never thought we'd come to America. We just wanted to write some songs and then it snowballed. Every turn and every step has been a surprise -- a pleasant surprise. We just make music for music's sake."

"We don't think about making music too much," Joe adds. "It just happens."

"If a song has one or two ideas, there's no point of doing those six times," chimes Shorrty. "If we get bored doing a song for too long, chances are that everyone else will get bored."

"Chances are everyone else got bored two minutes ago," interjects Joe.

Apart from the kind words from music blogs, Royal Headache aren't in any rush to become the next big thing.

"We have a lot of material we are working with and a lot of the songs are finished," says Shorrty.

"The plan is we go and record another record for the end of the year, but who knows what will happen," says Joe. "Right now, it's a lot of fun just getting together and playing. We spent a lot of time touring and trying to put the [debut] out. We sort of didn't jam for ages, so it was good to get back together and start writing again. It was like you had been constipated and then took a bunch of laxatives and then three hours later just shit a bunch."

Watch "Girls"