THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #33

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar! For our first SB feature of ’24, we’ve dug deeply into our inbox of mp3s and assorted goodies to bring you another round of quick fire entertainment in our usual style. You’ll find the usual variety, with a dose of melodic punk, some alt country, huge rock and even some progressive black metal to tempt you. With January traditionally being a little quieter for submissions, we’ve taken the opportunity to include a couple of older tunes here that didn’t get covered during the last weeks of 2023, but that doesn’t mean a dip in quality. After all, you can’t put a sell by date on great music! As always, if you feel you have something of interest that you feel would suit a future Singles Bar – or a full review – at Real Gone, please don’t hesitate to get in touch…

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NIGHTFREAK – Speed Trials EP

Nightfreak are a band who, in their own words, play “feral punk ‘n’ roll”. Bands sometimes have a skewed idea of how they sound, or of the intents and complexities of the music they play, but in this case, these three lads from Chicago are under no illusions. Their second release ‘Speed Trials’ fills a brutal ten and a half minutes with unrelenting material that pulls the best from Black Flag and Germs and marries that hardcore intensity to rock ‘n’ roll riffs that sound like bits of Rocket From The Crypt and New Bomb Turks colliding with Keith Morris performing with a genuine anger.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #29

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore the various individual tracks and mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This time around, the popular feature includes a couple of pieces of very strong pop with an electronica heart, a great melodic rocker with a blue collar tint, a tune with one of the catchiest hooks ever, a well arranged cover…and more besides. We hope you dive in, explore and enjoy – and, as always, please tell us if we’ve introduced you to something great!

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THE DROWNS – Just The Way She Goes / 1979 Trans Am

2023 was a particularly busy year for The Drowns. The US punk ‘n’ roll band – featuring ex members of The Shell Corporation, The Briggs, and Success – released a split with The Last Gang, another split with noise punks Wonk Unit, and a cover of Sweet’s classic ‘Ballroom Blitz’. The latter continued to show off their massive love for 70s glam fare, having already covered Slade’s ‘Know Who You Are’ the previous year. In addition, they toured extensively, and their live shows even took in a huge run of dates across Europe. It’s almost as if The Drowns had long given up on the idea of sleeping…

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