If you’ve lived in Sydney at all in the last five years, then Royal Headache is definitely the soundtrack to a part of your life.

The garage soul merchants from the city’s inner west suburbs have become synonymous with the underground music scene of the sprawling metropolis, and to many were a beacon of light and hope in the face of the ever encroaching scourge of venue closures, spiking rent prices, and a general sense that we’re all getting older and only have a limited window with which we can be walking the back streets of Marrickville carrying a six-pack of Coopers and looking for a door into the gig.

Having emerged from that now legendary warehouse scene that is all but a distant memory, they went on to capture widespread attention with their stunning, debut self-titled 2011 record, as songs like ‘Down The Lane’, ‘Psychotic Episode’ and ‘Girls’ became anthems to arts students and lowly media types everywhere, and along with it international acclaim came knocking – taste-makers like Pitchfork standing up and taking notice of these blokes from the burbs with a penchant for gritty guitars and Rod Stewart-esque vocals ringing out from the other side of the planet.

But then, towards the end of 2013, just as Royal Headache reached migraine status, they didn’t so much as walk away from it all, but rather just went quiet. Speculation was rife they had broken up, or had recorded a second album, but would never release it. And just like that, one of the greatest chapters in Australian music seemed finished.

Smash cut to two years later, and Royal Headache have just released their sophomore record High, and it seems like they never went away in the first place. In fact, they appear to be more prepared to step into the spotlight than ever – the album premiering on the prestigious NPR First Listen page, and now the video for ‘Carolina’ highlighting that they’re really making a go of things this time,.

Filmed in black and white (how else would they?) in and around Sydney’s inner west (where else but?) the clip follows the band mid practice in a tiny rehearsal space, before it all becomes too much for frontman Shogun and he needs to take to the streets to dance himself clean.

Shogun appears positively joyous as he Peter Garretts his way to the White Cockatoo to pickup a long neck of Carlton, and then ends up dancing in front of the now iconic watertank that is blazed across the cover of High – before eventually ending up in the arms of his beloved Carolina.

It’s brilliant, beautiful, simple and sweet. It’s perfectly Royal Headache.

Royal Headache’s excellent new album High is out now in good record stores and available on their bandcamp.