Following a couple of EP releases, Canadian doom/sludge metal merchants Heron found themselves on the roster of bands at the independent Sludgelord Records. The sometime home of Stone Machine Electric, Bible Basher and Coffin Torture, the band would be in good company, and in many ways, associations with such a great label forced them to up their game. Their 2018 LP ‘A Low Winter Sun’ was a masterclass in weighty sounds; its sludge fuelled approach suggested a love of Conan, and it’s purer doom elements drew from Electric Wizard, but for the more finely tuned ear, the record also displayed a strange, deep psych and heavy post rock tone in the guitar work that allowed the extremely heavy sound to appear more cinematic in its own way.
Author Archives: Real Gone
REAL GONE GOES OUT: FM – Booking Hall, Dover, Kent 27/11/2022
When FM appeared at the first Ramblin’ Man Fair in 2015, they played an excellent set. Despite a low down billing on the main stage, they played with the professionalism and intensity of a headline act. Apparently, their London show on the 2022 ‘Thirteen’ tour – featuring Grand Slam in support – was similarly strong, so it was always likely fans on the Kent coast could surely rely on a typically enthusiastic set at the tour’s end.
DOT DASH – Madman In The Rain
Following a string of fairly jagged albums that pulled together punk, emo and mod influences, Dot Dash’s sound had a drastic overhaul on their 2018 LP ‘Proto Retro’. The rougher edges were smoothed out and in their place came some hugely melodic power pop. The bulk of the record’s tunes came with a 60s jangle as heard through a 90s filter, sometimes as if stumbling upon deep cuts from Teenage Fanclub; sometimes showing a massive love for Buffalo Tom. The musical changes were all for the better, since no matter where you dropped into the record, it was possible to hear something with huge hooks and a really positive feel.
FASTER PUSSYCAT – Like A Ghost / Pirate Love
Between 1987 and 1992, Faster Pussycat released a trio of major label albums that gained them a lot of very positive press. Between the trash-glam aesthetic of tracks like ‘Bathroom Wall’ and ‘Smash Alley’, the retro Stones-ish love of ‘House of Pain’ and hard funk of ‘Madam Ruby’s Love Boutique’, the band displayed a broad range of talents and influences, often only linked via Taime Downe’s distinctively scratchy vocal.
DANY LAJ & THE LOOKS – You Should Know / I’m So Glad
Dany Laj & The Looks’ fourth album ‘Ten Easy Pieces’ was a masterpiece of pop-rock goodness. One listen to the They Might Be Giants inspired single ‘Don’t Keep Me Guessin’’ was enough to reel in a prospective audience with the catchiest hook of 2021, but the record’s musical gold ran far deeper. Between the energised harmonies of ‘Smoke In The Sun’, the almost Beatle-esque ‘In Other Words’, and the new wave throw back ‘Pick It Up’, the album darted effortlessly between some fairly disparate styles, but Laj’s strong gifts for a melody always acted as the glue holding everything together. Even with ‘Don’t Keep Me Guessin’’ towering above a couple of the album’s lesser cuts, it managed to be one of the year’s best long players.