When you think about musicians associated with classic rock bands, the name Merv Spence is unlikely to be one of the first that’ll spring to mind. In fact, there are several hundred vocalists that’ll be part of the fan consciousness before this Irish vocalist even gets a look in. …And it’s with good reason. He first made inroads into a career in 1982 when he replaced Pete Goalby in Trapeze, but that association imploded by the end of the year when guitarist Mel Galley left to join Whitesnake, putting an end to a great band. Spence recorded an album with Trapeze that year, but it remains unreleased. He later joined Wishbone Ash, an association which was again brief, but yielded one album – 1988’s ‘Raw To The Bone’. By that point in their career, Wishbone were past their best and, as such, it was a release that was only really heard by the die-hard fans.
CLICHÉ CULT – Race Against The Time / Sweet Therapy
Formed during the pandemic lockdown of 2020, Yorkshire’s Cliché Cult gradually built an online following via the release of a half dozen digital singles. The band’s mix of indie, post punk and energised jangling guitars set them out as a band to watch. In addition, the tonal shift between the Bunnymen-ish ‘Plastic World’ single in 2022 and the semi-funky ‘Veronica’ (released in March ’23) suggested they were a band who weren’t about to play things safely, or get pigeonholed.
TOMMY STINSON’S COWBOYS IN THE CAMPFIRE – Wronger
Tommy Stinson is a legend. His work with The Replacements provided the heart of the Minneapolis punk scene in the early 80s, and by the end of the decade, the band’s more melodic sounds had paved the way for varying styles of alternative rock. With his other often overlooked bands Bash & Pop and Perfect, he took the Replacements’ sound even further, dabbling with power pop and even rootsier sounds. With that in mind, although this release from his Cowboys In The Campfire is billed as a “country album”, it’s best bits aren’t quite as massive a musical shift as some people might believe.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #9
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual MP3s that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This time, we bring you a selection of rock tunes, a slab of melodic punk from Australia, and an indie/disco crossover that’ll be hard to beat. As always, we think this represents a great selection of current musical treats, and hopefully you’ll discover something new.
*
POLLYANNA BLUE – Trials & Tribulations EP
This debut EP from Pollyanna Blue is a short but amazing work. Latching onto a style where the alternative elements collide with a heavy electronic groove, they sometimes come across like a heavy version of Metric and Transister, but the musical duo wield some serious muscle and add their own much harder edge to a genuinely classic sound.