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. This visit to the SB brings some UK based Americana, a slice of acoustic blues, the return of an industrial legend, an interesting cover tune and more besides. Strap yourselves in…there’s a lot of good stuff here!
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Having gained airtime on Planet Rock and BBC radio and received positive press from Louder Than War and other sources, Healthy Junkies have already marked out a place within the underground rock scene, but their current single – the energized ‘Favourite Place’ – is the kind of track that could see the British based band score even more fans.
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. This selection offers some of the usual SB variety, as we share a couple of newer singles with an electronica backbone, a couple of light and melodic indie themed tunes, and some very inclusive punk. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy…
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Gay Elvis has been a regular fixture on New Jersey’s underground rock scene for a number of years. You might know him best as a member of Readymade Breakup or The Blakes. You might have encountered him as a member of The Vice Rags, a once raw garage rock band who took a dramatic turn to become a very melodic retro rock band on their second LP. There’s a chance you stumbled across his solo EP, but there’s an even greater chance that you don’t know Elv at all.
The Mediocre Friends was a new name on his CV for 2024, but the roots of the band go back way further. The musical project brings Elvis back into the musical fold alongside his old high school buddies – the guys responsible for him taking his first steps as a musician. Years on, they reconvened to record a bunch of songs, sort of as “unfinished business”, if you will. The four completed tracks were released to Bandcamp in the June of 2024, by which time, personal disagreements had actually split the band of friends once again.
As the author of the Marillion biography ‘Separated Out’ and the Rush history ‘Strange Chemistry’, writer Jon Collins has been well known to prog rock fans for decades. Those fans are less likely to know Jon for his poetry, or be aware of his work as a musician, but he has been rather wise in choosing to apply his writing talents to different media. After all, if you stick to the same thing, you’ll eventually end up stuck in an uninteresting rut.