JONESY – Dopplegangbangers EP

For those yet to catch up with Canadian rockers Jonesy, here’s a quick recap. The band are loud, brash and often vulgar. When this works for them, it results in superbly trashy sounds that are hugely thrilling, despite their disposable nature. When the band misfires, they could be accused of just trying that bit too hard to shock, or perhaps just relying too much on an easy, crass aesthetic. They’ve released material that would challenge joke glam rockers Steel Panther in the rudeness stakes, and their debut album over-relied on the word fuck to make an impact, and yet, somehow, there also seems to be a reason to come back for more whenever a new recording appears. It could be terrible; it could be great. It’s a lottery – and in its own way, that makes everything seem even more exciting. Actually, exciting is probably the wrong word, but hopefully you get the point.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #43

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore the various individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. It’s a strong selection this time, with a brilliant soul influenced tune, a great track that melds an almost indie sound with an undercurrent of electronica, some massive rock riffs, and the return of a Real Gone favourite, Bad Mary. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy. If so, why not drop by and tell us? It’s always a pleasure to hear from our readers!

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THE END MACHINE – The Quantum Phase

The End Machine’s second album, 2021’s ‘Phase 2’ presented some great hard rock sounds. It found the sometime Dokken men George Lynch (guitar) and Jeff Pilson (bass) very much working within their musical comfort zone, but with that, came a great strength. Aided by brilliant Robert Mason on vocals, the band often sounded like a rock powerhouse, despite playing very safely. It would be fair to say that, in hard rock terms, fans of those three musicians got exactly what they wanted.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #39

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore the individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. As usual, there has been a bumper crop. This week, we bring you a singer songwriter who uses low key electronica to their advantage, some massive sounding post rock, the son of a Beatle, a throwback to the 90s (in the best possible way), and more besides. Dive in… It’s all good!

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HVALROSS – Running The Gauntlet EP

The debut album from Dutch rockers Hvalross introduced listeners to a band with a very distinctive sound. Released in 2020, ‘Cold Dark Rain’ wasn’t afraid to mix styles. Tunes like ‘Finally Repent’ and ‘I Shot My Best Friend’ blended old style melodic rock with light alternative rock tones and semi-bluesy sounds, and the band’s huge approach to backing vocals occasionally hinted at a love of ‘Dog Eat Dog’ era Warrant. ‘As I Am’ leant further towards a prog metal-post grunge hybrid with its contrasting muted riffs and huge blankets of sound, and ‘Death From Above’ showed how Hvalross could weave stoner-ish tones within their riffs and still convey a huge hard rock melody. They didn’t always get it right; the huge, wailing vocal cutting through the middle of ‘The Owl’ proved to be a massive distraction from some potentially enjoyable music, but few records are perfect.

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