The Real Gone End Of Year Round-Up, 2025

We’ve reached the end of another year, and for Real Gone, 2025 was a special one. Not only did we celebrate our sixteenth year online, but we gained a truckload of new and regular supporters – both from an industry perspective and in terms of regular readership. Our visitor stats have seen a huge increase on 2024, and the materials we’ve been sent for review have been more varied than ever.

We’ve heard a lot of enjoyable albums and EPs over the past twelve months, but as is traditional, we’ve whittled our favourites down to ten, and then given a well deserved shout out to a few titles we think are also worth checking out. As always, our picks for the best of the year are limited to releases we actually reviewed – it’s only fair. We hope you’ll check out some of the artists and releases featured below, if you’ve not already done so.

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SUGAR BONES – Make Me Bad

When it comes to blending funk, rock, soul and disco, few do the job as effectively as Sugar Bones. Fronted by powerhouse vocalist Corrin Cruz, the US band made a superb noise on their self titled EP, its five songs acting like the perfect primer for the first time listener. For those who enjoyed that short release, the full length ‘Make Me Bad’ – released in June 2025 – should be considered essential listening. The record’s eleven tracks capture Sugar Bones in great form throughout, on a selection of tight, funky and occasionally harder edged tunes that show off the entire band in the best manner possible.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #86

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar! We’ve got another cool selection this week, taking in some punk ‘n’ roll, very dark electronica, some incredibly raw garage based noise, and the return of a funk rock powerhouse. As always, we hope the variety offers something for everyone. If you find something new to enjoy, we’d love to hear from you!

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SUGAR BONES – Sugar Bones EP

On their debut EP, US funk/rock band Sugar Bones prove the old theory that quality will always trump quantity. In a little under twenty minutes, these guys whip up an impressive musical party: with three slabs of tight funk, a strong soul inspired jam, and a massive rocker with some serious 70s boots, there’s something here for most listeners who love things with a retro sound.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #64

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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