Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. For lovers of acoustic sounds, there’s a real treat to kick off this week’s batch. You’ll also find a decent slice of metal, a dark themed cover tune, a cool guitar based instrumental and more. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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In punk terms, Rob Moss mightn’t be a household name, but he’s been a part of the US alternative scene forever. He’s been a member of Government Issue, Artificial Peace and, in his own words “a bunch of other bands”, and much like Kurt Baker, that Muck dude from Muck & The Mires and Dan Kopko – who features on this 2024 release – his relative lack of fame really doesn’t matter. What he has brought over the years in terms of musical energy and enthusiasm is far more important.
Over the first six months of 2024, Real Gone received hundreds of submissions for the Singles Bar. Naturally, not everything appealed, and with only eight tracks featured every week, there were various great tracks that also fell by the wayside. Our Singles Bar “Summer Special” rounds up some of the best sounds that didn’t find a previous home. It would’ve been a travesty not to share such good music, but in a couple of cases, we’ve even included material that really should have featured at the Singles Bar around the time of release. Within this batch of twenty top tunes, we’ve pulled together some very retro sounding pop-rock, something with a huge late 60s sound, a couple of gothy bits, a nod to Americana, and even a slice of trad folk. We hope this round up of bits and pieces introduces you to something new, and maybe even inspires you to check out more material.
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Texan rockers 9-Volt Velvet serve up a superb selection of riffs on their first full length release ‘Nude Beaches’. It’s a record that values directness, with each of the tracks feature some really taut riffs, but unlike some garage rock oriented bands, 9VV’s best tunes aren’t just in the Band of Skulls mode. The best bits of this album draw from a broader musical palette, and sometimes do so within a single song.
With their layers of fuzz and a relentless garage rock core, 9-Volt Velvet are capable of conveying an impressive amount of energy. The band’s own take on a retro sound is immediately familar, but isn’t just reliant on mere recycling, and between the more traditional elements of noise, the two tracks that make up this release also share an impressive, almost quirky edge that has the potential to set them apart from their peers.