The Same But Different – Loners Gone (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Loners Gone sit at a sweet spot between genres. At a point where the punk swagger washes up against alternative rock muscle and grungy claustrophobia drifts past on a proto-metal riptide, you find Loners Gone thrashing creatively in the muddy undertow.

And it is a great place to be. A place where muscle meets melody, grind meets groove, brooding musical poignancy meets dark anthemic power. And the result is a series of songs that seem both cultish and underground, yet which, given a fair wind, could easily find themselves in the more commercial territory, perhaps even delivering an unexpected shock to the more discerning denizens of the chartlands.

At one end of the sonic spectrum, you have Renegade a song which feels like an out-of-control car careening down the highway, a screeching musical squall on a last-chance power drive. On the other hand, songs like War is Raging prove that the band is just as comfortable with slow, stomping tribal salvos of dirty, twin-guitar classic rock.

Rock music has come a long way since its inception. However, the aptly named The Same But Different neatly proves that within its existing borders, there are still plenty of new sonic formulas to explore, new fusions to be be tested, new adventures to be had and new paths to be beaten through the unexplored fringes of this broad and illustrious genre.