THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #83: FESTIVE EDITION

For this visit to the Singles Bar, we bring you a very special selection of tracks. As we get ready to wave goodbye to another year, these singles represent the very best of 2024’s alternative Xmas wares. We’ve got some great pop from an unfamiliar name, a brilliant pop-rock tune from Scotland, a massive old school country banger, a superb reworking of a genuine festive classic and more besides. Merry Christmas, everyone. (Normal service will resume at the SB next week!)

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #80

Welcome back to the Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. For lovers of synth based pop, this selection offers a couple of genuine treats. You’ll also find a superb acoustic reworking from a critically acclaimed singer songwriter, an industrial tinged rocker, some wholesome pop punk from Australia, and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy…

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Watch: Tellers Scribe share new video for ‘Bella’

The opening of ‘Bella’, the current single from Tellers Scribe, wastes no time in setting a brilliantly heavy sound in place. The guitar tones mix post-grunge with a pinch of nu metal, and also add a hugely sludgy element to give everything a pleasingly dirty feel. For some, that might be complex ensough, but this is also augmented with a few very old school “horsey squeals” bringing slightly more of an old school vibe. In short, this grabs the ear in seconds.

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SHADOWCLOAK – Shadowcloak EP

North Carolina metal band Shadowcloak aren’t messing around on their debut EP. Its five songs tap into some really heavy riffs, but they aren’t content with just hacking out the Sabbath obsessed sounds of so many doom-centric bands. The opening track on this self titled offering, ‘Dark Days’, seems as concerned with substance as much as the heaviness itself. By opening with a slow intro where a burst of feedback appears to emulate the howling wind, there’s an immediate atmosphere, but with a rumbling bass borrowing from 80s goth metal meeting with a cymbal-free drum part, the band’s more thoughtful approach builds a brilliant sound from the off. When the expected heaviness arrives, the riffs take on more of a Paradise Lost quality than a more typical Electric Wizard vibe, with the guitars adopting a dominant mid tempo chug, whilst the vocal falls somewhere between a 90s groove metal growl and a post-hardcore shout. In terms of a hybrid sound, their mix of post-metal and doom gets off to a superb start, but it’s once the mid section kicks in, introducing a more traditional doom riff, that things really get going. That leads into a brilliant sub-goth instrumental, where cleaner guitars take on a fuzzy blues tone and their more melodic stance is countered by a wibbling keyboard hinting at a love of old space rock. Eventually bringing the two moods together and topping the doom with a perfect twin lead guitar, this track shows off a near perfect mix of heaviness and old school melody. If there’s anything here that’s caught your ear, then Shadowcloak will likely hold you in their doomy grasp for the duration.

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