REAL GONE GOES OUT: The Replacements, Roundhouse, London 2/6/15

Posted on by

The Replacements broke up in 1991.  During their lifetime, they became one of the world’s greatest cult bands, gaining a legion of loyal fans, the actor Matt Dillon among them.  Following the split, bassist Tommy Stinson embarked on an interesting career, as frontman of his own bands Bash & Pop (their album ‘Friday Night Is Killing Me’ an essential listen for ‘Mats devotees), and Perfect, maker of solo records and as a touring member of Soul Asylum.  Rather unbelievably, he’s also been a member of Guns N’ Roses – an odd move, certainly, but one Stinson has previously claimed pays well.  Guitarist/vocalist Paul Westerberg released a string of excellent solo recordings, some of a rather lo-fi persuasion, but always sharing his gift for penning a great lyric.  In a move that pretty much no fans ever expected, Westerberg and Stinson reunited in 2012 as The Replacements, played their own live shows and appeared at festivals across the US.

In 2015, something even more unexpected occurred when The ’Mats announced gigs in the UK.  For some fans this would be a great opportunity for revisiting their youth, but for many – and certainly for a huge part of the audience present at The Roundhouse on June 2nd – this would be their first experience of seeing the band live. A proper bucket list event.

Continue reading →

DEAD SHED JOKERS – Dead Shed Jokers

Posted on by

DSJFollowing the release of their debut album in 2013, Welsh hard rockers Dead Shed Jokers were praised by UK’s Classic Rock Magazine and picked out as a band whose star was very much on the ascent.  Two years on, their self-titled follow up brings the rock in a hugely unsubtle fashion, mixing heavy blues riffs with a truckload of distortion, a post-grungy attitude towards the more angular and a frightening amount of bravado.

Continue reading →

BEAUVOIR/FREE – American Trash

Posted on by

beauvoir free1992 saw the launch of Now & Then Records, a small independent label specialising in melodic rock.  Although the UK label’s time was brief, over the course of their lifespan, the label released the best AOR of the era.  Gaining the rights to a few tapes that had otherwise sat gathering dust in record company vaults, they released records by Jeff Cannata, Mark Free and Takara, a band fronted by the now legendary Jeff Scott Soto.  Among the label’s other early releases was the Crown of Thorns debut, a band uniting singer-songwriter Jean Beauvoir previously of Voodoo X and the Plasmatics with guitarist/songwriter Micki Free, previously of the rather more unlikely Shalamar.  One of the all-time great debuts of rock, the record brought killer melodic rock track after killer melodic rock track in a way that few had managed since 1987, and choruses that represent the finest AOR melodies. Decades on, ‘Crown of Thorns’ is a recording that never pales in its appeal.

Continue reading →

ELLA SQUIRRELL – Loop EP

Posted on by

squirrellTaking in a range of influences on her debut EP ‘Loop’, singer-songwriter Ella Squirrell creates four tracks which are heavily rooted in the electronic with some hefty beats, but always retain elements of the human spirit.  The core of the music borrows heavily from late 90s trip-hop and electronica, while her open and sometimes biting lyrical approach owes more to the candid singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon from decades earlier.  In this respect, her work should appeal to devotees of Sarah McLachlan, especially those who have a liking for her work with electro act Delirium.  Ms Squirrell, of course, doesn’t just recycle these influences – as with any singer-songwriter dealing with the more personal, huge chunks of her own emotion and spirit make up the heart of the material.

Continue reading →

The Big Genesis Poll, part 2: the results

Posted on by

Running a second poll for Genesis covering their more commercially sucessful (and arguably more radio friendly) years was always going to divide opinion. Naturally, as Real Gone’s last poll shows, there are many people very keen on the 70s prog side of the band who just never took to the more commercial Genesis. Likewise, the band picked up fans throughout the 80s who just never quite understood the earlier work.

Continue reading →