London-based emo outfit Sad Blood knew they had to follow their ‘Ultimate Warrior’ release with something special; a release that improved on their core sound and didn’t just feel like a retread of previous work. The resulting five tracks are somewhat special – hearing ‘Legion of Gloom’ (especially for the first time) is akin to taking a trip back two decades. A couple of chords is all that’s required before opening track ‘Heavy Petting Zoo’ – a tune absolutely drenched in a feeling of revivalism – is set to impress listeners who once found themselves enamoured with nineties emo.
Author Archives: Real Gone
THE BLOAKES – Kanye Westboro Baptist Church EP
It’s hard to resist a release with a title like ‘Kanye Westboro Baptist Church’. Swedish combo The Bloakes clearly have a sense of humour, but take their music very seriously. Here are five men who are committed to taking their listeners back to a great musical past, while simultaneously keeping the sounds of psychedelia in the present, whenever that may be. Their music is unashamedly retro with some very obvious touchstones, but never ever lazy in its construction. The result is five songs that sound like a jam between The Beatles, Traffic, Primal Scream and The Charlatans, with a little Swedish prog chucked in the pot for good measure – and it’s bloody fabulous.
AMARYLLIS – Nova Initium
Following two EP releases and their own headline shows in London, UK alternative rockers Amaryllis (not to be confused with the female fronted Polish prog rock band) set to work on a full length which, in the bands own words, had to be better than anything they’d recorded before. It’s always good to encounter a band with a clear sense of drive, looking to push themselves. While that debut – 2016’s ‘Nova Initium’ – often relies on being the sum of its influences over any obvious originality, it’s hard to argue against it being well constructed and well played, especially in the guitar department, since Alex Whiteford so obviously knows how to work some solid riffs.
READYMADE BREAKUP – Live With It EP
Readymade Breakup’s third album – their self-titled release from 2011 – was, at the time of release, their best to date. It was still a little hit and miss but the good material far outweighed the bad, while the band’s newly found tougher sound was clearly a step in the right direction. Time passed. A follow up never came and the band seemed to lose the momentum built up by the release. Their drummer moved away; their bassist, Mr. Gay Elvis, put out his own EP in 2014 and with an ever expanding gap between the present and their last release, by the end of 2015, it seemed Readymade Breakup were done.
THE SENTON BOMBS – Mass Vendetta
Ten years of label changes, line up changes and a decade’s worth of sweat led to the making of The Senton Bombs’ ‘Mass Vendetta’. On this fourth album, the Blackpool rockers deliver eleven tunes that recycle lots of classic influences, leading to a collection of songs that might just excite listeners who still hanker after dirty hard rock with an occasionally sleazy edge.