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. We offer a great selection this time around, taking in power pop, something synth based, some retro sounds leaning towards the goth-esque, a massively talented singer songwriter…and more besides. Hopefully, as usual, something new will catch your ear and encourage you to dig a little deeper!
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Swedish stoner rock band Mammoth Volume are an interesting prospect. Their work isn’t shy in sharing the kind of 70s guitar tones you’ll find on early Queens of The Stone Age recordings, or exploring the corners of retro sounds beloved by latter day Opeth, but there’s always more to their albums than fuzzy heaviness and Hammond drenched grooves. ‘Raised Up By Witches’, their fifth release, in many ways, finds their mix of blues, fuzzy stoner metal and jazz coming of age.
With its combination of hardcore punk bass grumbling, abrasive vocals, crust punk edge and grindcore ferocity, Slugcrust’s contributions to ‘Bind’ – a split EP release with hardcore/crust punk band Swamp – gave listeners a window into some tautly arranged, but truly uncompromising noise. Despite the most intensive riffs attacking like a cross between early Napalm Death and classic Discharge, the band clearly decided that simply wasn’t brutal enough and have cranked up their sonic attack about threefold for this absolutely punishing follow up. On ‘Discharge(d)’, most of the material takes its cues from their previous EP’s ‘Decibel Rebellion’ and increases not only the speed but also the volume on four of the five tracks. If that’s not enough, it allows its title cut to deliver a brutal, doomy assault that fans are unlikely to forget.
Duel’s 2017 album ‘Witchbanger’ served up eight slabs of fuzzy stoner rock that captured a genuinely great sound. Most of the guitar work came with a retro warmth as if everything was being slightly distorted by Orange amps, and when the band hit a genuine groove, the rhythm section sounded unshakable. The title cut played out like in the manner of a top notch stoner act attacking something by Monster Magnet with more of a swagger; ‘Cat’s Eye’ approached a world of melodic fuzz and a jagged groove with a genuine ease, and the slow and moody ‘The Sake Queen’ mixed the NWOBHM tones of Diamond Head with a more thoughtful and bluesy approach, but still sat naturally alongside the record’s slightly heavier tracks. Of course, the indelible influence from the likes of Sabbath and Mountain were there, but it was a pleasure to hear a stoner/doom band who were unafraid of mixing things up a little, and who also had the confidence to share shorter arrangements rather than letting a more typical epic doom approach pummel the audience into submission.
Near the beginning of 2024, US post punk band Sun Atoms broke a near three year silence when they released the single ‘Ceiling Tiles’. That track provided the perfect reminder of their great sound with its angular riffs, pulsing rhythms and light gothic tones. In a little over five minutes, the music transported the listener back to the early 90s with its alternative feel, but Sun Atoms’ music still played very well in the present.