Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we investigate some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. There’s a really smart selection this time out which, among other things, shares some great instrumental sounds, welcomes back some ska heroes, explores the darker side of an Australian singer songwriter, and even takes an opportunity to introduce someone brand new. As always, we hope you find something to enjoy!
*
Billy Joe Aemstrong needs no introduction. He’s also no stranger to a great cover tune.
His newest recording ‘Black Haired Girl’ takes an old Jesse Malin track and gives it a kick via a very recognisable vocal. With a top notch production bringing out the track’s solid bass groove and Armstrong’s trademark style lending more of a power pop slant, it actually improves upon the original cut where Malin’s own huge drawling tones drove the number with a little more of a retro rock feel.
Bringing together members of Fuzz Orchestra, Zeus, Lento and Zu, German band Traum aren’t light on musical talents. On their debut album, the collective explore a broad soundscape of space rock, desert rock and stoner to create a heavily atmospheric work. Perhaps most impressively, unlike some of their peers, they don’t feel it is always necessary for their musical explorations to stretch out into hugely lengthy jams. There are longer works shared, but the bulk of ‘Traum’ shares shorter, accessible pieces, and in doing so, really helps to create a user friendly record from a sometimes less than user friendly style.
Australian singer songwriter Helen Townsend has already released a run of great singles. More impressively, every one has been different from the one before.
When The Bedside Morale burst onto the scene with their debut single ‘Safeword’ in 2023, it immediately became clear that they were a band to keep a close eye on over the coming months. That single might’ve taken the guts of a couple of Queens of The Stone Age numbers and tempered the familiar riffs with a bigger hook or two, but the way these Bristol based lads took their influences and sharpened them suggested there was more here at stake than lazy recycling. A second single, ‘Bitter Things’ appeared before the end of the year, but fans wouldn’t get a proper EP from The Bedside Morale until the summer of 2024. By this time, everyone had spent months with those two singles rotating on playlists, ruminating the possibility of even better things ahead.