Although the shoegaze and dreampop genres will be forever associated with the early 90s, there have been a wealth of great bands and artists keeping the flame alight in the twenty first century. 2024 saw some great releases from Keeley, Set Feux, Sunder, Newmoon, and many others. Even scene stalwarts like A Place To Bury Strangers were hugely prominent with a run of digital singles which gained some very positive online press.
Check out ‘Grind’, the new video from Zygnema
When thinking of groove metal, it’s easy to think of the standard tropes: huge riffs and grinding tones, often coupled with a growled vocal. Often, the results fall into a sound that draws from ‘Far Beyond Driven’ era Pantera, and ‘Ashes of The Wake’ era Lamb of God. Whenever bands borrow from these sources, the results are always impressive – despite Phil Anselmo’s insistence on ruining Pantera’s legacy in a number of ways – but once in a while, a groove metal band will come along who are just a little more interesting.
Listen: Revolution Rabbit Deluxe share angry new single ‘Tim Gurner Says’
Revolution Rabbit Deluxe’s 2023 album ‘Control Freaks’ mixed rock, pop and politics in such a way it was impossible to ignore the influence of the younger Nicky Wire and Richey James Edwards. With sloganeering messages and a very 90s sound, tracks like ‘G7 Countdown’ blended the vitriol of the early Manics with the busy rhythms of the baggy movement; ‘Head In The Sand’ celebrated self-ignorance against a hefty indie rock groove, and – best of all – ‘Stuck On Stupid’ attacked the world with a Miles Hunt-ish sneer and a post-punk sound, pumping the heart of one of the band’s most pointed tracks to date.
STATUS QUO – Driving To Glory
During the first decade of what was to become a very long career, Status Quo barely put a foot wrong. Between the release of 1968’s ‘Picturesque Matchstickable Messages’ and 1972’s ‘Piledriver’, the band slowly transitioned from being an “of their time” psych act, into a rock band experimenting with garage and blues based sounds, eventually hitting upon the heads down, no nonsense boogie rock sound that would become their forte. Between 1973’s ‘Hello’ and 1977’s ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, that sound would see the Quo shifting millions of albums and eventually becoming known the world over. The following decade saw line-up changes and a concession to 80s sounds diluting the band’s power – and, ultimately the quality of their output – but fans were still guaranteed some enjoyable (sometimes even excellent) tunes along the way.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #81
This week’s visit to the Real Gone Singles Bar promises a whole world of variety. There are a couple of familiar names, but in terms of genre-hopping, the selection is very interesting. You’ll find something with a great pop heart, a track with a strong dance-oriented core, a slab of rockabilly from a band who last released an album forty years ago, some ska sounds that could well be boosted by a pair of massive Doc Martens, and more besides. As always, we hope you’ll find something new to enjoy…
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