In 2024, Sun Atoms released their ‘Everything Forever’ long player, a record that more than made good on the promise of a string of excellent previously released singles. A highlight of that release, ‘Narco Polo’ eschewed guitar based sounds for a mix of funk and art pop, presenting a Talking Heads-ish groove and a swathe of samples to share something that relied as much on an atmosphere as steady rhythm.
In their original incarnation, reggae-ska-punk band Sublime left the world with two excellent albums – 1992’s ‘40oz To Freedom’ and 1996’s ‘Sublime’. Between these two essentials, the sketchier ‘Robbin’ The Hood’ presented some great tracks, but lacked the momentum of the other records, with the more obviously finished material joined by narrative skits and acoustic pieces. For the more patient fan, it actually offered a broader insight into how the band worked; never beholden to one style, Bud, Eric and Bradley were always keen to experiment.
Within a couple of seconds, the brand new single from post rock band The Fierce And The Dead commands attention. During the intro of ‘Shake Hands & Exit’, the band couple a riff that’s as direct as their fan favourite ‘Truck’ with a stoner rock edge to create something quite sinister. It also represents one of the heaviest moments in their catalogue to date.
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. This time out, we’ve got a couple of fine indie oriented tracks, some well crafted country rock, a genre bending number with a Spanish vocal, and more besides… As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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By its very nature, prog rock is complex, and the fans love that level of indulgence. ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ by multi-instrumentalist/songwriter John DeMena takes that to extremes, but manages to convey a feeling of an artist actually using his musical talents to progress, rather than just wheeling out some obvious Yes-isms or some outdated and misguided tribute to Gentle Giant.