Tag Archives: desert rock

THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR: A NEW YEAR’S EVE LOCK IN 2025

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We’ve reached the end of another year, and the Real Gone Singles Bar has gone from strength to strength. As is always the case, we’ve received far more submissions over the past six months than we could possibly hope to cover, and ended up with a lot of great tracks that just didn’t find a home in the original weekly columns. Some things are too good to pass by, though, so as is traditional, we’ve rounded up twenty of the best tracks that didn’t get covered upon release and created the Singles Bar New Year’s Eve Lock In! We’ve got a great new wave inspired track, a couple of absolute bangers from the metal world, a little Americana, some jazzy yacht rock, funk, power pop and goth. With the help of a couple of singer-songwriters along the way, we hope there’s something in this selection for almost everyone as we count down to midnight…

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YAWNING MAN – Pavement Ends

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In the year leading up to this album’s release, guitarist Gary Arce kept himself more than busy. With the other members of Yawning Man, he released a third album of improvised material with Yawning Balch, two albums of fantastic material under the name SoftSun with Superlynx’s Pia Isaaksen, and also worked with Big Scenic Nowhere, a doomy stoner band which also featured Yawning Man’s Bill Stinson and Fu Manchu/Yawning Balch guitarist Bob Balch.

Regardless of his many activities, for most, it’ll be his associations with desert rock band Yawning Man that spring to mind first, despite their output being rather sporadic. The band’s eighth studio record ‘Pavement Ends’ finds Arce in great musical form, and following 2023’s ‘Long Walk of The Navajo’ takes a welcome step back towards shorter and more accessible arrangements.

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SOFTSUN – Eternal Sunrise

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The debut album from desert rock duo SoftSun was one of the greatest releases of 2024. Guitarist Gary Arce had already put his name to some really enjoyable work with improvisational collective Yawning Balch over the course of the year leading up to SoftSun’s unveiling but, as part of that duo, there was something truly special about the way he was able to weave deep psych and desert rock sounds against Pia Isaaksen’s vocals. It was a release that set a high bar, but also one that suggested a “lightning in a bottle” moment; that a follow up might not follow especially quickly…or even at all.

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BLUE HERON – Emulations

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Since their formation in 2018, US desert rock/heavy stoner band Blue Heron have been utterly committed to sharing massive riffs. Although parts of their 2024 full length ‘Everything Fades’ were a little more accessible from a vocal perspective, on a musical level, the album retained the kind of heaviness fans had come to expect, cementing the band’s reputation as one of the underground scene’s best and most intense acts.

Continuing a run of yearly new releases since 2022, ‘Emulations’ is a stop gap affair, combining four newly recorded tracks with a blistering live session, but it shouldn’t be considered a “filler” in any way.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #120

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This visit to the Real Gone Singles Bar sees the return of three familiar names, but their current tunes find the musicians sounding as good as ever. There’s always a pleasure in watching artists you admire grow, but in the case of singer songwriter Roisin McCarney, the Scottish singer shares one of her most mature sounding tracks to date. In terms of newer names, you’ll find a genre-bending act from Margate sharing an absolute banger, a couple of underground singer-songwriters, and even a perfectly pitched piece of early 60s inspired, guitar laden pop from Australia. As always, it’s been an absolute pleasure to pick the best singles for sharing, and we hope you find something new to enjoy.

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