With influences ranging from indie, alt-country and psychedelia, Boston rock band Tiberius (not to be confused with the Scottish metal band of the same name) have labelled their sound “Farm Emo”. The fusion of styles colours most of their debut album ‘Troubadour’ in such a way that their music feels inherently “90s”, yet at the same time, the record’s finest tracks feel so much grander than mere throwbacks to that plaid dominated era.
Tag Archives: boston
Real Gone Presents: A Boston Round-Up, August 2025
Back in June 2025, when sifting through a mountain of materials for our popular Singles Bar column, we found we had a huge amount of submissions featuring bands from Boston. It sort of seemed natural to make a feature of these on their own, since that part of the US seems to be thriving when it comes to underground acts. The feature was a massive success – far bigger than we could’ve hoped for – so it seemed only right to use that as a template again, when the time felt right and there was enough new material to make it viable. This second trip to the Boston ’burbs features a couple of familiar faces, but hopefully there’ll be music and bands here that are brand new to you too. As always, we hope you find something to enjoy!
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DUCK & COVER – EP
In 2022, US band Duck & Cover released the ‘Attention Economy’ EP, a short listen that hit hard and fast with a world of trashy riffs that blended a love of garage rock with The Replacements, and even added a tinge of 80s glam to a few of the vocals. The tracks have since appeared on streaming services as three digital singles, but whether heard together or apart, the material retains its appeal. 2024’s two track ‘Trash Fest’ showed off a little more melody around the edges – particularly noticeable in the vocal approach taken on the massively hooky ‘Girl From Nowhere’ – but the band’s love of a wonderfully retro sound held firm.
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #114
Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have been sent our way over the past few weeks. This selection is another genuinely mixed bag, sharing – amongst other things – a country track, a dance number, a perfect homage to 90s shoegaze, and a tune from an up and coming rock band featuring a huge vocal. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.
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HAPPY LITTLE CLOUDS – Embers
Unless you happen to be Guided By Voices, it’s rare that albums come together quickly, but some take a fair bit longer than others. It’s fair to say that this album from Happy Little Clouds had a gestation period that was a little longer than most. Its lead single appeared on Bandcamp almost a year and a half ahead of the full length release, and other tracks have been slowly drip fed to an audience over time. In terms of promotion and with everyone streaming, this actually turned out to be a good move: at the point where people might’ve started to forget about this Boston based trio, they’d pop up with another tune, and receive another round of positive online press.
Befitting of something born from a slow creative process, ‘Embers’ is bigger than a mere collection of tracks. There are lyrical themes of questioning, of introspection, and an underlying aspect of emotional growth and change. This makes the material more sophisticated than some of its very 90s, often feel good arrangements might suggest on a surface level.