Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar. This time around we bring you sounds ranging from the ultimate tribute to 90s alternative, to an Americana infused track bristling with harmonies, to a strange synth based workout that blends spiky rhythms with a sly humour. There’s a number with a terrific bassline, and even an underground act outdoing a legendary power pop band. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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In terms of indie pop, Sparky Bosque’s ‘When You’re Around’ makes an instant impression. Even before Sparky has sung a note, the music presents itself with a massive flair, with huge late 60s infused guitar work and strident basslines serving up a hugely retro sound. The arrival of a slightly woozy vocal sets up a brilliant contrast without feeling out of place, and by the end of the first verse, this single sounds like one of the finest early 90s pre-Britpop jams has been dug out of the archives, despite being recorded in 2025. A couple of choruses in, and everything you instantly love about this tune starts to hit in even bigger waves. Presenting a grand sound without grandiosity, the ghosts of classic Teenage Fanclub can definitely be heard here – and this is far better than anything on that legendary Scottish band’s 2023 LP ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’.
Kat Robichaud has released some really strong synth oriented singles over the past year or so, and here’s another. ‘Alien Sex’, an ode to the possiblitity of learning a great deal from other planets but only being interested in erotic encounters, shares Kat’s more playful side, but at the heart of the track, fans will hear some familiar musical touchstones. There are the usual, high toned keys providing big musical hooks somewhere between Tubeway Army and Greg Hawkes; some choppy guitars leaning into different new wave aesthetics, and a couple of confident lyrical hooks. Most importantly, though, the performer shares one of her best vocals here: moving between spiky rock sounds and a light operatic delivery with ease, her voice steers this track away from the pure novelty and into the realms of the theatrical. This doesn’t have the sophistication of her earlier ‘Vampire Love’ (obviously), but for fans, it’ll be a welcome and trashy treat. For the uninitiated, it’ll be oddball affair that’ll hopefully send the listener further down an interesting musical rabbit hole.
With its dirty, chopping guitar line and crashy drum part, ‘Smile’ by Leeds based trio When They Riot immediately gives off a love of Queens of The Stone Age, but the presence of a melodic vocal and some great harmony vocals on a strong chorus proves that this also has a few different musical interests. The way the harmonies are used to counterbalance the heavier edges here really gives the arrangement a lift, elevating everything beyond a simple, grungy throwback, but a closer ear will discover that the track’s bass parts are doing a reasonable amount of heavy lifting to keep everything moving. Granted, the bulk of the track sounds like stuff you’ve loved since the early 90s, but these lads attack their chosen style with love and conviction, and although this is still a little sludgy in comparison to the band’s earlier Nirvana-esque ‘Bedlam’, ‘Smile’ is ultimately a love letter to the past that plays very confidently in the present.
Music fans keeping a close ear on the indie rock underground might already be familiar with Messiness, an Italian band who’ve already released a couple of very interesting singles. ‘Fatally’ continues their solid run of work with something a touch more melodic. The opening of the track catches the ear with a superb harmonic sound, before everything slides into a world of indie rock that occasionally sounds like a pop infused Super Furry Animals. The mix of jangly guitars and handclaps acts as a very natural bed for a slightly lax vocal, but it’s when hitting a jubilant chorus that this song really springs to life. Huge guitar sounds dominate; a late 60s inspired melody hints at the band’s psychedelic interests and a descending melody brings out the very best in an angst ridden lyric. Throw in a great bassline that’s presented high in the mix, and this becomes the best and most accessible Messiness single to date.
By opening ‘Plum Walker’ with slightly distorted, retro sounding synths playing an ascending and descending scale, Reverse Death plunge into a strange world that sounds like an overspill from the royalty free world of the Bruton record label and something designed to soundtrack a UK Schools & Colleges programme from 1972. It’s certainly not the first thing you’d expect to hear from a single that’s pitched as “psychedelic”. Sticking with it, though, will soon uncover some great psych adjacent interests when the core melody is swamped by a world of slightly fuzzy guitars – again, seemingly in no big hurry to make their point – and a heavily treated vocal that greets the listener with a very hazy feel. Across five minutes, the melody never really makes any major changes. Instead, it seeks to lull its audience into a trippy world where ‘Oczy Mlody’ era Flaming Lips collides with Spacemen 3 and an old shoegaze act having a moment of quiet reflection. It might not offer much of an immediate impact, but in terms of setting an atmosphere in place, it’s a genuine success.
In the early summer of 2025, Young Martyrs shared ‘Everything Else Disappears’, an enjoyable melodic rock number dominated by soaring guitar lines. Their follow up single ‘Never Gave You The Blues’ leans into a different kind of retro sound. Opening with mid tempo acoustic strums, it immediately gives off the vibe of old Black Crowes ballads, before a rich vocal brings something more distinctive to the table. Tom Conneill approaches the performance with a broad confidence, but its when he harmonises with guest Natalie Brice that the melody really comes alive. Their voices blend so effortlessly, and the track’s slightly maudlin sound – absolutely perfect for a lyric dissecting a wobbling relationship – shares something almost timeless. Almost pitching itself more at the UK Americana scene than the usual rock crowd, this is absolutely superb, and with the aid of a slow, bluesy lead guitar break, something that was already great sounds even better. This is the sound of a band reaching an early maturity, and an absolute “must-hear”.
Teen Creeps share a massive throwback to the sounds of US college rock on the brilliant ‘Anywhere’. With its ringing guitars and solid basslines, the track’s verse conveys a hint of love for some of Chris Colbourn’s material with Buffalo Tom, before the chorus cranks everything to attack the listener with overdriven riffs from the school of Superchunk. Helmed by Pixies-like basslines, this should sound like basic recycling, but some great musicianship and a lot of energy lifts the material considerably. Here is a band who breathe life into their influences to create something vibrant and this is a three minute blast that no fan of 90s alternative rock should ignore. Nostalgia rarely sounded so vital.
From the moment The Wesleys’ ‘Magic Wand’ kicks in with a frantic bassline, there’s a feeling that it might be a great track. And sure enough, by the time the chorus hits with a taut guitar and harmony vocal, this Canadian quartet deliver the kind of song that really makes an impression. The incessant bass groove never tires; the taut rhythm guitars chime with the aggression of great garage rock, but are also tempered with an indie/jangle pop melodicism, and a slightly echoey vocal adds a slightly bigger sense of a band drawing from the past. This has the massive charm of a track that would’ve been beloved by the UK’s NME circa 1992, and the fact that it also finds time for a lead guitar part that sounds like Johnny Marr channelling The Hives makes a great arrangement even better. [Warning: Video contains flashing images that might not be suitable for those with photo-sensitive epilepsy.]
September 2025