Slower. As the name implies, this band is all about the doom. However, this is doom with a twist. Bringing together members of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Kylesa, Year of The Cobra and others, the performers are famous in their own right, but nowhere near as famous as Slower’s choice of material. This debut album features five Slayer classics, each one drastically reimagined as a timeless doom/sludge piece; five numbers that end up invariably sounding like more like Acid King than Kerry King. It seems inconceivable that speed driven bangers that sound tracked a generation’s metallic apocalypse could take on the stance of Electric Wizard and Witch Mountain, but behind their comical name, Slower have made such things a striking reality.
Author Archives: Real Gone
THE FALL – Fall Sound Archive Vol 8: The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country On The Click)
The Fall’s twenty third studio album had a tricky birth. In 2003, a release called ‘Country On The Click’ was almost ready to make its way into the world, but plans changed at the eleventh hour. Depending on which stories you believe, the original release was either cancelled because Mark E. Smith was unhappy with the final mix, or shelved because it’d somehow found its way onto file-sharing services and bootlegged. Either way, a second version of the record – now titled ‘The Real New Fall LP (formerly Country On The Click)’ – made it onto Britain’s record shop shelves in October of that year.
Initial reviews were generally positive, and over the years, it’s become somewhat of a fan favourite in “later period Fall” terms, and it’s pretty easy to hear why. The bulk of the material adopts a fairly typical “Fall sound” – if, indeed, there ever was such a thing – but the arrangements are often superb, and Smith appears in particularly great form throughout, armed with lyrical barbs and a suitcase worth of obtuse lyrical references that serve some superb riffs and angular noises. It doesn’t seem to matter which way you approach ‘The Real New Fall LP’, it plays very strongly.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #35
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. Despite January being a quiet time, there’s been very little sign of anything slowing down here. This time around, we bring you electronica based sounds, the return of some industrial heroes, some brilliant and slightly kitschy alt-pop, a couple of massive rockers…and more. Hopefully, that means there’s something here for everyone…and if you find something new to enjoy, as always, please drop by and tell us!
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GRAND – Second To None
Grand’s debut album was one of the best AOR albums of 2022. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Swedish band dropped a record that encapsulated some of the very best sounds from an unfashionable genre. The songs shared strong influences from the likes of Work of Art and Lionville, but with the help from a dash of pop and some absolutely killer choruses, Grand made a well worn style feel a little perkier than most.
Watch: New live clip from Bad Mary
Moving on from their series of cover tune releases, Bad Mary released a brilliant, original work with their 2023 EP ‘Trash & Glamour’. The succint release managed to share their variety of musical styles and all the excitement of 2019’s ‘The Return of Space Girl’ into a much smaller package. For fans, it would be a reminder of how much energy an on-form Bad Mary can muster, and for the uninitiated, a varied introduction to a great, underground band.