PETE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – Sea Of Eyes / The Lamplighters remix EP

Formed in 1997, the curiously named Pete International Airport is a musical project featuring the talents of Dandy Warhols man Peter Holmström (also of Sun Atoms, a band who released some excellent material in 2024), and Collin Hegna of Federale, a genre-hopping act who also offered one of 2024’s finest discs.

Under their Pete International Airport moniker, these musicians and other assorted friends have explored various sounds, usually veering towards influences from the 80s and 90s alternative scenes. In the last quarter of 2023, the band made a welcome comeback with their long player ‘It Felt Like The End of The World’ – the first wholly new PIA work since 2017 – which introduced new listeners to their indie/goth/rock sounds.

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Watch: The Big Deal share new video for ‘Fairy of White’

Today sees the release of The Big Deal’s second album, ‘Electrified’. It’s a record that shows none of the signs of being a “difficult” follow up to an excellent debut, partly because the Serbian rockers have stuck to a familiar blueprint. The mix of bombast, melody, melodic metal crunch and soaring hooks works just as well for them the second time around.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #87

This week’s Singles Bar is a rock-centric affair, but we’ve attempted to pull together a selection of tracks that really capture a wealth of different moods. There’s a track with 90s dream rock/shoegaze flair, a slab of Finnish metal with thrash elements, a classic sounding and very 90s influenced tune, and something with light prog leanings. Those hoping for something highlighting other genres should also find pleasure within some great power pop and a timeless sounding country-pop number marking the return of a great singer-songwriter. January is often notoriously quiet for new releases, but there should be enough here to pique your interest as usual!

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SMOKE AxD – Vaya Con Dios EP

Smoke AxD (aka Smoke All Day) brings together artists previously associated with Madball, Crown of Thornz and Hatebreed, which, in hardcore terms, sounds like it should be pretty amazing. On this EP, those musicians bring some massive riffs, as you’d expect, and the vocal performances often attack like a concrete sledge. There are a lot of moments where the material sounds like something unearthed from the late 90s, so they’ve got that classic/nostalgic angle covered too. So, why then, do the five songs on this EP sound so…frankly uninspired?

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