Brooklyn’s Avery Friedman only began playing live shows in 2024, and didn’t spend years honing her sound before the recording and release of her 2025 debut ‘New Thing’, so the album’s songs still have an element of freshness and occasional naivete. You couldn’t call the material raw, though, or even suggest its potential has been sold short in any way. The best of the record’s eight songs represent brilliantly crafted indie pop, often sharing a sound that’s much older than Friedman’s years, but everything is presented in a hugely confident manner.
DECREPIT YOUTHS – Love Psycho Kill Machine EP
When it comes to creating crossover sounds, Newcastle’s Decrepit Youths don’t mess around. The three tracks that make up their ‘Love Psycho Kill Machine’ EP take in influences from metal, hardcore, darkwave and industrial, only to spit everything back as an angry, but very distinctive noise; one that feels very assured for a band that’s still relatively new at the time of this release.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #115
This visit to the Singles Bar is quite guitar driven in places, with a brilliant single from a Scottish pop-rock band, some heavy shoegaze, and a slab of enormous sounding stoner rock providing the backbone of the eight picks. That said, there’s still enough of a deviation from rock influences to make this as strong as previous Singles Bar selections, with a soulful number shared by one of George Ezra’s colleagues, a great synth based track, and a piece of soul driven pop ready to be discovered. As always, of course, we hope you find something new to enjoy.
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Watch: Manchester’s The Fear share crushing cover of James classic ‘Sit Down’
British indie pop band James are beloved by many and have released a fine run of singles over the decades. ‘Come Home’, ‘Sound’ and ‘Getting Away With It’ are arguably among their best, but it’s only really ‘Laid’ and mega-hit ‘Sit Down’ that get heard on radio or in public with any kind of regularity. ‘Sit Down’ has become so overplayed over the years that you might not feel like you ever want to hear it again.
MEGAFAUNA & HOMESICK GHOSTS – Nature Is Healing EP
An array of inaudible voices greets the listener at the beginning of this EP, almost as if eavesdropping on a field recording of train station announcements sourced from a damaged cassette. With the arrival of a repeated three note keyboard riff lurking beneath a world of ambient sounds – ranging from something that sounds like the rhythmic clatter of trains on tracks, to noises that evoke imagery of workmen shifting huge piles of rubble – it’s clear that this listening experience will be more about creating a mood than enjoying any “traditional” music.