Ever since its original release in 1984, Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ has been beloved many. Only reaching #2 on the UK singles chart the first time around, it became the second most celebrated track to fall just shy of the top spot. Ultravox’s ‘Vienna’, arguably, takes the crown there, losing out to a terrible novelty record – ‘Shaddap You Face’ by The Joe Dolce Music Theatre; at least Wham! had the dignity of knowing they were beaten to the top by a charity record, and one that George Michael was also on!
THE STRIPP – If You Want Me / So Long
In 2021, The Stripp contributed a couple of brand new tracks to a split EP with Electric Frankenstein. At that point, the Aussie band only had a sole EP to their credit, but their material ran rings around the veteran punk and roll band. Electric Frankenstein still sounded good, of course, but they were no match for the fiery, still new band who’d been paired with them.
A few years on, it seems that The Stripp have lost none of their spark. Released ahead of a full length album, this pair of tunes capture all of the sharp edges and the genuine excitement of their earlier work.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #134
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past couple of weeks. This time around, we bring you an unexpected cover tune, two slices of top drawer power pop, and among other things, a great track that bends elements from various different genres into something genuinely interesting. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.
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Listen: Black Dog Moon share album focus track ‘Holy War’
Rising Irish rock band Black Dog Moon have recently released their second album ‘Hell and Back’. Built around an old school sound, the record’s harder edged tracks ‘Neon Queen’ and ‘Heavy Shot of Love’ show how well the musicians can work a thunderous melodic metal riff or two, but it’s when channelling more melodic influences that the album really comes alive. The album’s clear standout ‘Black Hearts and Diamonds’ shares a classic 70s blues rock feel and comes absolutely loaded with confident lead guitar work that appears to draw its biggest influence from Gary Moore’s “slow” reworking of Thin Lizzy’s classic ‘Don’t Believe A Word’, while the buoyant melodic rock of ‘1985’ sounds like Meat Loaf fronting a party rock band with rootsy undertones.
OPHELIA’S EYE – Severance EP
The material on the debut EP from Swiss metallers Ophelia’s Eye (2024’s ‘Catharsis’) was played with the confidence of a band with a much bigger body of work to their name. The five tracks blended thrash, metalcore and a pinch of hardcore in a way that made the band sound utterly unshakeable. A few great influences were shared along the way (it was hard to ignore the tones of classic Machine Head on ‘Stay Close, We’re Dying’, but it was also good to hear a potential love for blessthefall and Lamb of God creeping through on other tracks), but no matter what the influence, the material showcased a band who were clearly superb musicians.