ACCEPT – Humanoid

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Real Gone

In many ways, you have to hand it to Accept. In the metaphorical race for the German hard rock and metal prize, they’ve spent literally a whole career in the shadow of Scorpions. Outside of their home country, they’re rarely name checked as an all-time favourite band, and they’ve constantly trucked on, often biting a collective thumb at the fickle finger of musical fashion. They’ve gone through many line up changes, but they’ve survived when many have fallen. What’s more, as late as 2021, they managed to deliver a career highlight with ‘Too Mean To Die’, a hulking mass of riffs that married their love of 80s metal with a really solid sounding production job. In terms of “late career” albums, it was a genuine winner. You can love them, you can hate them – but you can’t keep Accept down. When on form, they mean business.

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WARHORSE – Warhorse

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Real Gone

Between 1967 and 1969, the original Deep Purple released a trio of excellent albums. Those records mixed elements of 60s pop with rock guitar, experimented with psychedelia, and even explored avenues of orchestral rock. The huge proto-metal work of the band’s next incarnation – makers of the classics ‘Black Night’, ‘Smoke On The Water’ and ‘Highway Star’ – has long overshadowed the earlier Purple outings, but tracks like ‘Shield’ and ‘Chasing Shadows’ provided a massive showcase for Ritchie Blackmore’s distinctive guitar work and things to come, whilst the epic ‘April’ proved this was a band with bigger ideas than most, and their ability for making other peoples’ material their own was almost as impressive.

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Watch: New video for Set Feux’s ‘Let Them Stare’

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Real Gone

Set Frux released their self titled debut album on April 19th. The record’s blend of pop, light electronica, indie and dream pop creates a hazy listen, which is perfectly suited to a soundtrack of escapism. Diana Planche’s sense of melody is strong throughout, and although the band’s arrangements often have a retro quality, their songs play brilliantly in the present.

As part of the record’s ongoing promotion, Set Feux have created a video for one of the album’s stand out cuts, ‘Let Them Stare’.

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HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT’S ADEQUATE – One Word That Means The World (Arkhipov) / Music For Dancing

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Real Gone

When approaching a fusion based style, London’s Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate are rarely anything less than interesting. Since their inception, the musical duo have painted an art rock canvas that’s blended prog, pop, funk and ambient textures in a way that – for the want of an easy descriptor – sometimes makes them sound like The Pineapple Thief jamming with the rhythm section of early 80s King Crimson. At other times, you might stumble upon the atmospheres of later Talk Talk, or swathes of guitar work tipping their more than adequate hat in the direction of ‘In Absentia’ era Porcupine Tree, but almost always with the Gentlemen’s own, slightly odd, twist. Simply put, you can rely on them to tease your ears with something pleasingly complex.

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THE KILOGRAMS – The Kilograms EP

Posted on April 20, 2024 by Real Gone

Bringing together the talents of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Joe Gittleman (The Bass Fiddleman), Bouncing Souls man Michael McDermott, Secret Six’s J. Duckworth and Sammy Kay, The Kilograms is a supergroup of sorts. However, listeners shouldn’t necessarily expect this band to merely recycle the high octane punk and ska associated with their day jobs. Granted, you’ll find some familiar musical touchstones, but The Kilograms is very different beast.

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