Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the previous few weeks. This time out, we bring you a new track from a still new rock band, a fantastic piece of soul, a heartfelt country number, a new take on a Halloween staple, and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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Towards the end of the first quarter of 2025, Bristolian indie rockers Oswald Slain released their debut EP ‘Kiss Me On The Mouth’, but this wasn’t the first time some of the band members had been in the spotlight. Guitarist vocalist Charlie Fitzgerald and drummer Rhii Williams had previously released material under the name Little Thief, and delivered one of 2021’s best albums. Realising they’d taken Little Thief’s garage rock sound as far as it could go, they teamed up with other musicians and branched out. Not that some of Oswald’s debut was massively far removed from the old sound; Fitz’s vocal retained a distinctive edge, and a couple of the songs definitely sounded like a logical extension of the Little Thief world. Nevertheless, ‘Kiss Me…’ was a strong first outing, and keeping the wheels greased, the band delivered an equally enjoyable follow up single ‘Firing Line’ barely a couple of months later.
Those who’ve been paying attention to the rock underground over the post-lockdown years will probably be aware of Wax Mechanix. The multi-instrumentalist has released a succession of great sounding, retro influenced tunes – and here’s another.
In the artist’s own words, it’s “a unique heavy jam”, and it’s easy to hear what he means. The opening riffs play off a bluesy melody, but the semi-busy acoustic slant gives the melody the kind of feel that seems a little proggy. Moving into the meat of the track, programmed loops and a chunkier riff lend a little influence from early Beck, but a huge vocal ensures any simarities end there.
As the Real Gone inbox continues to fill up, Boston continues to be a city that delivers a huge amount of new music every month. This trip back to the US will reacquaint people with a few familiar names: Lovina Falls presents some terrific alt-pop, Tiberius share a moody number that showcases their low key approach really effectively, and scene stalwarts The Dogmatics show their more melodic side on a great single. There are new faces to be discovered too, with a band celebrating a perfect post punk sound, a slice of reggae to remind you of the summer you’ve just left behind, and something dubbed “low rock”, which blends genres in an interesting way. We’re sure this lightning tour with the some of the city’s cult acts will see you coming away with a couple of new favourites!
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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 previous few weeks. As usual, we’ve received a huge amount of submissions – this continues to be one of the most popular aspects of our website – and we’ve picked eight tunes that we feel captures the true spirit of the great sounds floating around the underground as we move squarely into a cold, northern hemisphere autumn. Among other things, there’s a 60s cover from a familiar name; some brilliant indie pop; a pleasingly downbeat number with some great orchestration, and a country influenced track from a superb singer songwriter. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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