Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

Real Gone’s End of Year Round-Up, 2018

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In 2018, Real Gone celebrated its ninth birthday. It’s been a long and hard road to this point, but we’re pleased to be celebrating our most successful year online to date. Hundreds of new albums have been heard and a record number of gigs have been attended. Not only has this year been our biggest success…it’s also been our favourite.

Nearing the close of 2018, it’s time to look back and celebrate our favourite events – including our top ten  album releases…

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Normally, each year has an album that’s a clear stand out. Making that distinction this time around has been somewhat trickier, so we’re awarding a joint “album of the year” to two very different albums. If that seems like a cop-out, we don’t care…there really was only a hair’s breadth between them.

Drum roll…

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VINNY AND THE HOOLIGANS – Don’t Give Up

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Vinny and The Hooligans’ 2016 EP ‘Late Nights’ was a reasonably enjoyable punk release that drew influence from the more accessible end of hardcore, Good Riddance and Screeching Weasel at their most tuneful. The recording was a little rough around the edges and Vinny’s vocal wasn’t necessarily the most perfect, but the charm in the songs often shone through. Two years on and with a bigger budget, ‘Don’t Give Up’ – a pointed message for so many DIY punk bands – is an improvement on almost every level. Stretching Vinny’s talents to a full release and a bigger sound, its ten songs cover a variety of punk styles, but whatever the outcome, it’s a record packed with big hooks and a lot of love for New York.

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EVIL OWL – Evil Owl EP

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Not to be confused with the independent progressive rock band from Finland, the UK Evil Owl are hard, retro and grubby. On their self-titled EP from 2018, this Bristolian trio take the garage rock base of Brockley Forest and load it with the kind of distortion and arty noise that fuelled the Sonic Youth classics ‘Sister’ and ‘Evol’ and throw in a few influences from Mudhoney and Tad for good measure. The result is a genuine blast of guitar driven anger – four songs with a retro heart but also loaded with a timeless, fuzzy appeal.

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Justine And The Unclean – Heartaches & Hot Problems

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In 2017, Justine and The Unclean made an impact on the power pop and pop-punk scenes with their debut release ‘Get Unclean’. The album didn’t especially break new ground, but between its instant hooks and Justine Covault’s sassy vocals, it didn’t take long for the songs to stick. The album also showed a strong musical talent in mixing bits of punk, power pop, classic rock and even the occasional metal riff together, creating something very potent.

Utilising the “mini album” format – a very 80s trait, but it was good enough for Billy Bragg and it certainly works for Justine – ‘Heartaches & Hot Problems’ values quality over quantity at just six songs and, as you’d hope, there are at least a couple of killer hooks to be found within the all too spritely seventeen minutes.

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