Author Archives: Real Gone

THE PLANET SMASHERS – On The Dancefloor

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It seems inconceivable that ‘On The Dancefloor’ is The Planet Smashers’ tenth album, much in the same way that it seems inconceivable that it comes twenty years after fan favourite ‘Unstoppable’, and three decades after the death of Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell. Time is a funny thing.

They might not have had the commercial success as Real Big Fish or Less Than Jake (at least in the UK, where hard touring has made those bands a big draw since the late 90s), but years of grafting have made The Planet Smashers an integral part of the transatlantic ska world. There have been times when it’s been hard to work out why. Despite being great musicians, they’ve not always shown signs of being particularly great songwriters, with so much of their earlier work being reliant on one line hooks, delivered ad nauseum to the point of absolute annoyance.

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Watch: Rising stars Franklin share new video for ‘Tiny Chairs’

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Tipped as “one of Belfast’s fastest rising bands”, Franklin are definitely a band to watch out for over the coming months. Last year’s single ‘Bebby’ introduced a tight music unit with its combination of pumping basslines contrasted with overdriven, choppy guitar lines that captured the ghosts of The Skids and really early U2, crossed with the slightly more abrasive edges of early Franz Ferdinand. The blend of power and melody showcased an amazingly tight band on this track, but by throwing an old school lead guitar break into a pleasingly angular workout also advertised a band who might be unafraid to take a swerve into the unexpected. What’s more, a full live set from Bennigans in Derry (captured with a very professional multi camera set up) showed a band who were far more than studio based marvels.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #124

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Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individal tracks that have appeared in our inbox over the last few weeks. This time out, there are a couple of familiar faces, but their return visit to the SB ensures a genuine variety, genre-wise. Among other things, we’ve got a dance infused banger from a fantastic underground electronica act, a couple of country influenced tunes, and even a slab of metal that takes a rather unexpected turn! As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.

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THE CAROLYN – Pyramid Scheme Of Grief

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In 2023, US punks The Carolyn released ‘Harmful History’, an EP that provided a solid, if brief, insight into the band’s musical interests. The material made their love of The Ataris and The Gaslight Anthem rather apparent, but in terms of musicianship, the material was very strong.

In many ways, their 2025 release ‘Pyramid Scheme of Grief’ offers fans more of the same, but at times, the arrangements are tighter and the material more concise. This gives The Carolyn a serious amount of extra punch when required, without losing any of their songwriting focus.

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Madness to release career spanning ‘Hit Parade’ in November

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Madness have been well served by compilation albums in the past. Their 1982 release ‘Complete Madness’ brought together a complete run of the band’s hits up to that point, making ‘House of Fun’ and the single version of ‘Return of The Las Palmas 7’ (with extra sax during the final section) available on a full length release for the first time, and also threw in a random b-side ‘In The City’ for good measure. The later ‘Divine Madness’ was a little more purist in its approach, but gave pride of place to the later hits ‘Michael Caine’, ‘The Sun & The Rain’, ‘Wings of A Dove’ and ‘One Better Day’, showing how much the Camden Nutty Boys had matured as musicians and songwriters in the short time since the release of ‘Complete Madness’ and the band’s split just a few years later.

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