LÙLÙ – Lùlù

Posted on June 11, 2025 by Real Gone

When French band Lùlù released their eponymously named debut single in the closing weeks of 2024, it felt like the most exciting thing to happen to the power pop world since Gavin Bowles & The Distractions released their debut LP a year earlier, or possibly even since The Shang Hi Los released ‘Aces, Eights & Heartbreaks’ in January 2023. It’s not even that the track broke new ground; far from it, in fact. Its all round brilliance came from a desire to work squarely within a classic style.

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TEENAGE BUBBLEGUMS – Infamia EP

Posted on June 10, 2025 by Real Gone

In a pre-lockdown age, Italian punks Teenage Bubblegums hit their audience with a sound that blended huge influences from the early Ramones catalogue with the musical prowess of a couple of 90s Fat Wreck bands. That approach really came of age when the band cranked out ten numbers in under fifteen minutes on their 2019 “long player” ‘In Limbo’. The record’s chunky riffs and dual male/female vocal created something tough yet melodic, sharing something that could be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of Europunk fans.

Five years on, the ‘Infamia’ EP presents a much more mature and rather different sounding band. Allowing themselves room to stretch out, the five featured tracks take almost as long to play through as twice as many songs from the Bubblegums’ past, but the band’s command of a riff is still great.

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KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND – Disco Kills EP

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Real Gone

From the release of their 2011 EP through to 2022’s ‘Voodoo’, Kill Your Boyfriend have steadily crafted an impressive mix of post punk and heavy electronica sounds. Over the course of more than a decade, they’ve remained true to themselves, never really sought commercial acceptance, or softened their sound. On 2025’s ‘Disco Kills’, there are a couple of interesting musical deviations, but the bulk of their material remains incredibly harsh.

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MUGGER – Get A Clue EP

Posted on June 7, 2025 by Real Gone

Following their very promising demo from 2022, which shared eight tracks of blistering hardcore punk, noise-making Texans Mugger sound a little more polished on their first “proper” release. It’s clear, though, within a few bars of the first track, that any actual polishing is relative. Yes, their ‘Get A Clue’ release (being touted as an EP, despite only featuring two tracks) sounds bigger and a touch more professional, but it really doesn’t present the band in any more of a commercially viable manner.

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RUDIMENTARY PASTE – Six Examples Of The Wilhelm Scream EP

Posted on June 6, 2025 by Real Gone

Affiliated with the independent Socks On Records, Rudimentary Paste are label mates with brilliant noise makers Das Kapitans, Get The Fuck Outta Dodge, Al Pacinos Sister, and Soviet Films. That fact alone will give some listeners a reasonable idea of what to expect from the band’s ‘Six Examples of The Wilhelm Scream’ EP before even going in. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but even though this band actually features a couple of faces associated with other Socks On acts, the Paste sound isn’t just a carbon copy of their peers.

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