It’s been a couple of months since we visited Boston, but in that time there’s been a few very interesting things happening. Our ten song selection for September celebrates the best sounds from the city’s underground, bringing you not only the usual dose of garage rock, but even tracks by a couple of great singer songwriters and an alternative rock tune teetering on the fringes of melodic punk. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy…
*
For this visit to the Singles Bar, everything has taken on a distinctly festive theme. We bring you eight Xmas recordings from different artists and genres – ranging from the well known to the genuinely cult – which hopefully will enrich your holiday time playlists for years to come. A much loved rock band offer a new cover tune; there’s a brilliantly ugly electronica themed Elvis tribute, and ‘Santa Baby’ as you’ve probably never heard it before. There’s also a touch of Americana, some great pop, and a nod to the mighty Slade along the way. We hope there’s something here for everyone who loves Christmas music… Pour yourself another eggnog and dive in!
*
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!
*
Over the previous couple of months, the submissions for the popular Real Gone Singles Bar have been more than plentiful. It’s actually got to the point where we’re getting so much good stuff, it’s been almost impossible to keep on top of it all. When compiling a recent column, it came to our attention that we’d had a huge amount of submissions from Boston based bands. Since we were massive fans of albums produced by Paul Q. Kolderie & Sean Slade at Fort Apache back in the 90s and, in more recent times, our site has received regular support from a few Boston based bands, PR companies, labels – including the sadly missed Red On Red Records – it seemed to make sense to take some of these great tracks and highlight them in a feature of their own. The Singles Bar will continue as normal, of course…but this bunch of tracks, shared as a selection in its own right, features some great material. Please join us in giving a hearty shout out to a great city with a thriving music scene… As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
*
Over the last decade or so, Rum Bar Records has grown to become one of the great independent labels. For lovers of grubby sounding retro rock, power pop and even melodic punk, it’s become a one-stop shop for some superb underground sounds. They’ve even diversified to bring their audience bits and pieces from the alternative country scene, and via artists like Jittery Jack and Mozzy Dee, some top quality rockabilly, old school rock ‘n’ roll, and a whole different retro vibe.
The label’s 2023 sampler, ‘The Nice Price’ – promoted by Knyvet PR – ranks an essential freebie, but this selection of tracks (yours, again, for absolutely nowt) runs it pretty close. ‘Second Shot’ gives the label’s fans, and those with a more inquisitive ear, a fantastic round up of the Rum Bar wares released over the prior twelve months or so. In short, it’s a very interesting overview of where the label stands at the time of issue.