It’s a cold night in Margate. Especially cold considering it is almost May, and the (hopefully sunny) tourist season is about to get into full swing. Outside the Dreamland venue, just before doors open, a few keen gig goers make small talk about their shared past with the night’s big attraction – Mr. Jim Bob, the one time vocalist/guitarist/lyricist with the legendary Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine. A man from Nottingham has seen many shows over the past couple of months, all over the UK, and considered this appearance in Margate to be unmissable. He and his partner joke about stalking with a knowing glint in their eyes – a travelling advert for true fandom. Another man – sporting a Carter USM ‘60 Something’ shirt and day-glo shoes – talks about other shows he’s seen, and fondly remembers the legendary night at Tonbridge Angel Centre in 1993. He’s clearly hoping this night will create similar memories.
9-VOLT VELVET – Riptide / Hey Candy
With their layers of fuzz and a relentless garage rock core, 9-Volt Velvet are capable of conveying an impressive amount of energy. The band’s own take on a retro sound is immediately familar, but isn’t just reliant on mere recycling, and between the more traditional elements of noise, the two tracks that make up this release also share an impressive, almost quirky edge that has the potential to set them apart from their peers.
SHADOWCLOAK – Shadowcloak EP
North Carolina metal band Shadowcloak aren’t messing around on their debut EP. Its five songs tap into some really heavy riffs, but they aren’t content with just hacking out the Sabbath obsessed sounds of so many doom-centric bands. The opening track on this self titled offering, ‘Dark Days’, seems as concerned with substance as much as the heaviness itself. By opening with a slow intro where a burst of feedback appears to emulate the howling wind, there’s an immediate atmosphere, but with a rumbling bass borrowing from 80s goth metal meeting with a cymbal-free drum part, the band’s more thoughtful approach builds a brilliant sound from the off. When the expected heaviness arrives, the riffs take on more of a Paradise Lost quality than a more typical Electric Wizard vibe, with the guitars adopting a dominant mid tempo chug, whilst the vocal falls somewhere between a 90s groove metal growl and a post-hardcore shout. In terms of a hybrid sound, their mix of post-metal and doom gets off to a superb start, but it’s once the mid section kicks in, introducing a more traditional doom riff, that things really get going. That leads into a brilliant sub-goth instrumental, where cleaner guitars take on a fuzzy blues tone and their more melodic stance is countered by a wibbling keyboard hinting at a love of old space rock. Eventually bringing the two moods together and topping the doom with a perfect twin lead guitar, this track shows off a near perfect mix of heaviness and old school melody. If there’s anything here that’s caught your ear, then Shadowcloak will likely hold you in their doomy grasp for the duration.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Kimono My House: 50 Years Later
From the label that brought you 50th Anniversary tribute albums covering Alice Cooper’s classic ‘Killer’, Bowie’s absolutely legendary ‘Ziggy Stardust’, and Budgie’s oft-overlooked ‘Never Turn Your Back On A Friend’, comes something way more…outlandish. Bringing together various acts from the rock and metal underground, ‘Kimono My House: 50 Years Later’ re-imagines the 1974 Sparks album. As you might expect, the results are mixed. As you’ve probably already guessed, very few of the bands have been brave (or should that be foolhardy?) enough to imitate Russ Mael’s legendary falsetto. It remains unclear whether any of the musicians have taken the method route and grown toothbrush moustaches to enhance their involvement. What we have here – somewhat against the odds – is a very interesting record.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #49
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore the various individual mp3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. Usually, we aim to make the Singles Bar as varied as possible but, due to timings and submissions, this selection is rather more rock based. We hope you’re on board with that, especially given the amount of rock music that gets covered elsewhere on the site. An effort has been made, however, to try and bring an interesting variety within those rocky singles, which hopefully gives this SB a typically eclectic feel. This week, we’d like to welcome back Pollyanna Blue, but also draw your attention to a brilliantly haunting track from Lisa Cuthbert. Elsewhere, you’ll find shoegaze inspired noise, a brilliant cover tune, and a couple of singer songwriters… Until next time, we hope this keeps you entertained!
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