“Suddenly you were gone, from the lives you left your mark upon…”
– Rush, Afterimage
Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist with Canadian prog legends Rush has died. He was 67 years old.
Author Archives: Real Gone
David Bowie: Hunky Dory/Ziggy Stardust Covered
Since David Bowie’s passing in January 2016, the love for the man and his music has continued to grow. People across the internet have continued to debate the merits of his extensive back catalogue with a fervour that’s only really matched by the Beatles and Pink Floyd fans. Albums like ‘Hours…’ have been revisited and reappraised; new remastering of 1977’s ‘Low’ has caused controversy and ‘Blackstar’ has continued to astound and upset with its thinly veiled messages of mortality and dabblings with jazz-rock fusion. Few artists have delivered such a diverse and impressive parting gift.
Ash to appear at Kentish Town Forum with Stereophonics; stream new single
2020 has barely begun, but January is shaping up to be a very busy month for indie legends Ash as they embark on the promotion of their new anthology album.
Although a singles compilation celebrating the first decade of the band only appeared last year, 2020 sees a second compilation ‘Teenage Wildlife: 25 Years of Ash’ digging even deeper into their extensive catalogue. As well as featuring the more obvious tracks, a three disc version of the anthology includes a disc of career-spanning rarities.
Stream the new single from Justine And The Unclean
If you’ve followed the US power pop and pop-punk scenes over the past five years, you’ll know that Justine and The Unclean have released two incredibly catchy albums.
In June 2020, Justine Covault and her band of Boston musicians will release their third long player ‘Every Bone That Breaks’. Almost six months in advance, the band have just issued a two track digital single. Not only will this keep fans entertained until the album appears, but it also teases with a much tougher musical direction.
YOUNG HARBOR – Criminal EP
With press materials that advertise the band members as fans lots of post-punk artists and whom make music that has “the soaring arpeggios of U2 to 90s distortion”, Young Harbor aren’t hedging their bets. That could cover quite a wide spectrum of rock-oriented music. They go on to claim their sound applies a “unique” approach to vocals (predictably, it doesn’t). On paper, they are a band that seems too keen to impress. [They also claim to be big fans of The Smiths, so perhaps not … At the time of this EP’s release, it might’ve been better to keep such things quiet.]
Moving on from their own hype, thankfully, the actual music on their 2019 EP is very strong all round. Right from the off, their love of angular post-punk is in place. During the lead track ‘The City Has A Charm’, the band channel little bits of Wire and Gang of Four into a more melodic structure, weaving a punchy bassline in and out of a chopping rhythm guitar, while a heavily treated vocal adds extra retro cool. Of course, by making such things more commercial, the core sound often sounds so much more like Franz Ferdinand than anything truly post-punk, but with a massive hook at play, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A brief guitar solo adds a high pitched soaring sound, almost as if inspired by U2’s The Edge circa 1983 but instead of using this as a huge feature, it’s more of an interlude; the band clearly understands the main melody and chorus hook are more important than any over-indulgence.