---

Wednesday August 3

No Hope In New Jersey

Out of Manchester and wearing their Fugazi and Queens Of The Stone Age influences on their sleeve, this lot’s big rock noise comes armed with a battery of stadium aspiring riffs and choruses but the unappealing whining, colourlessly one note vocals of Leicester-born front man Andy Garratt don’t make debut album Steady Diet of Decline (Atlantic) a particularly attractive listen. They may have the energy and confidence of youth as well as some fine guitar work but what they don’t yet seem to have are the songs. Current single Decline kicks it all off with metal power-pop intentions but has paled by the time it gets past the first verse and while the Zep funk mood of Bad Luck, a 60s sounding Joys In Regret, a Nirvana inclined Invaders and a swaggering glam touch to Feel Free To Fit all have their moments, there’s far too much here that just sounds samey and uninspired. Unlikely to spring eternal.

7.30pm, £5. Bar Academy. Mike Davies

---

Monday August 8

Kubb

A vehicle for Liverpool born, Tobago raised and Cornwall nurtured singer-songwriter Harry Collier who’s forthcoming debut album Mother (Mercury) seems to answer the question ‘what would Coldplay sound like with Jeff Buckley on vocals?’ Their debut single, Somebody Else, shared a love of old soul with Joss Stone (indeed, it calls to mind I Don’t Want To Go On Without You in places) while the passionate musical surges of Wicked Soul suggests they could wipe the floor with Simply Red if the urge took them and Remain, Glow and Keane on steroids piano ballad Sun are all purpose built for swelling to lighters aloft stadium heights.

Fuelled by the afterburn of a relationship implosion and the eventual emotional recovery, these have the instant hallmark of timeless classics while the man himself was clearly dipped in a bath of charismatic presence. Come next year the NEC may be just not be big enough.

7.30pm. £6. Bar Academy. Mike Davies

---

Wednesday August 10

The Presidents of the USA

Having resigned from office at the end of 97 after racking up such hits as Kitty,  Peaches and a cover of Video Killed The Radio Star, it’s good to find the Seattle trio taking another crack, returning to their musical White House  with Love Everybody (Pusa), an album that puts its tongue firmly in the pop punk cheek with 18 chewy tracks lining up for spots in the next frat boy teen comedy soundtrack.

Still playing their two string guitar and three string bass, they come out of the traps firing with the manic title track, sounding like the MC5 but more melodious then it’s down to business with a Blink-like tale of Some Postman hoarding everybody’s love letters and songs about rampant male hormones (Poke and Destroy, Drool At You), celebrity (the Jonathan Richman sounding live version of Naked and Famous), favourite clothing (the jugband folksy acoustic Jennifer’s Jacket), rock n roll parties (Shreds of Boa) and I daresay a lot of drugs (Munky River).

As catchy as they’re often cheerfully immature, the deceptively insightful songs steeped with sardonic but never cruel streaks, this is a welcome return to form and right now the only special relationship with a POTUS anyone here needs to be concerned about. 

7.30pm. £12.50 Carling Academy 2. Mike Davies

---

 Wednesday August 10

Supergrass

With new album Road To Ruen released next week and first single, St Petersburg, just out, the grass are showcasing it upfront with a series of intimate unplugged shows, a move that reflects the fact that, according to Gaz Coombes, several of the songs have a more acoustic approach. Recorded in Normandy (hence the title), there’s nine new numbers, of which Coffee In The Pot is an instrumental, with titles including Rozy, Kick In The Teeth, Tales of Endurance and the bruised heart Low C. They’ll be mixing these up with acoustic versions of old stuff too for those who’ve always wondered what Mansize Rooster or Pumping On Your Stereo might sound like with the power shut off.

8pm. £15. Glee Club. Mike Davies

---

 Wednesday August 10

Morning Runner

An upcoming Reading outfit with a fondness for soul pop in a Dexys meets Supergrass sort of way. Last time they played here the members in the band almost outnumbered the audience but, with word of mouth building after their Drawing Shapes debut EP hopefully there’ll be a few more piling in to see them flag up bounce along new single Gone Up In Flames (Faith & Hope).

7.30pm, £5. Little Civic. Mike Davies

---

---

Friday August 12/Saturday August 13

The Bulldog Bash

The Datsuns

The annual bikers music fest get together looks to have its best line-up yet this year with the first day’s sonic activities finding highlights with Hurricane Party, InMe, Therapy? and Kiwi headliners The Datsuns. But even that’s kicked into touch on Saturday when Essex newcomers Smother open proceedings for a line-up that proceeds through The*Ga*Ga*s, Tokyo Dragons, Queen Adreena, Alabama 3 and, rounding it all off, the resurrected Terrorvision.

 9.30am. £45. Shakespeare County Raceway, near Stratford Upon Avon

---

Saturday August 13

The Modern

A South London electro-pop four piece with vocals provided by Emma Cooke, Nic Linn and Chi Tudor-Hart, they're firmly rooted in 80s synthpop to the extent that debut single Industry (Vertigo) sounds exactly like the Human League.

9pm. £5. Bar Academy. Mike Davies

---

Saturday August 13

Apache Indian

It’s been a long while since Birmingham ragga n bhangra star Steven Kapur had anything like as high a profile as he did around his brief early 90s chart successes wuth Arranged Marriage, Boomshackalak and his Ragamuffin Girl teaming with Frankie Paul. Not that he’s not been busy though, seeing in the new millennium with Karma featuring In The Ghetto with Boy George and last year releasing Make Way For The Indian. This rare live date coincides with the release of his latest album Time For Change that features his collaboration with Desmond Dekker on a bhangra-ised rework of the classic Israelites along with 18 other numbers (so he’ll have plenty of scope for the set list choice) that include Calling Out To Jah with Luciano, Get Loose with Pras, All Religions, A Prayer For Change and the hypnotic mantra swaying fight against evil message of Om Numah Shivaya.

 7.30pm, £13. mac arena

---

Sunday August 14

Arctic Monkeys

Currently THE name to drop when you’re talking the future of rock n roll, the Sheffield four piece have just been picked up by Domino, which makes you wonder where the major labels were if all the buzz and hype is justified. Musically they come across as a cross between The Libertines and Franz Ferdinand with angular indie guitar rock infused with funk grooves, typified by recent Bang Bang single Fake Tales Of San Francisco while the talk-sing From The Ritz To The Rubble is a frenzied rush of urgent noise and pumping, spitting guitars.

With the likes of Scummy, Bigger Boys And Stolen Sweethearts and I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor already established live favourites and the ground swell continuing to build, it’s a fair bet that when it finally arrives the debut album will be reserved a space on next year’s Mercury Music Prize nominations.

 6pm. £6. Carling Academy 2. Mike Davies

---

Tuesday August 16

The Kooks

With debut hit single Eddie’s Gun (Virgin) clocking in at just two minutes you can’t say the Brighton combo outstay their welcome. And welcome they are with its sunny fuzz Britpop flurry tale of not being able to keep it up conjuring a happy meeting between Supergrass and The Strokes while California hits the hiccupping ska road and suggests they’ve got Kinks records filed in the collection along with the Madness albums too. It’s a tad premature to start talking new big thing status, but it’s a promising entree.

7pm. £5. Bar Academy. Mike Davies

---

Wednesday August 17

The Cribs

Having released a trio of ever less impressive singles with You Were Always The One, Hey Scenesters! and Mirror Kissers, hopes weren’t high for the Wakefield brothers’ new album The New Fellas (Wichita). Well no disappointments here then. Aside from the fact nobody in the band can actually hold a tune (which makes listening to the acoustic Haunted a truly painful experience) there’s no consistent sense of musical identity, sprawling all over the place from Motown influences through The Kinks, the Libertines, Pulp (that’ll be The Wrong Way To Be, then), Oasis, The Strokes and Blur. If you’re aled up and been thrown out of the pub karaoke, then Things Aren’t Gonna Change, Hello? Oh and laddish Northern soul glam Martell might sound good as you shout along but in the cold light of day they are, frankly, rather rubbish.

7.30pm. £8. Carling Academy 2. Mike Davies

---

Thursday August 18

Mendeed

A hardcore death metal thrash outfit who take no prisoners, the Glasgow crew don’t know the meaning of the word subtle but if hammering riffs and guttural vocals are your taste in metal meringues then you’ll not be going far wrong with the new Act of Sorrow (Rising) EP, though you may be surprised to hear those soaring melodies at the back of the title track’s piston weltering assault. It’s plucked from their upcoming From Shadows Came Darkness mini album which, with the likes of gig favourites Perpetual Sin and Ignite The Flames and the band’s willingness to experiment beyond the hardcore formula as well as tip the hat to the likes of Iron Maiden, should ensure a healthy night of mosh madness.

 7.30pm. £5. Little Civic. Mike Davies

---

Friday August 19

We Are Scientists

A swiftish return for the New York based Californian trio provides a second go round push for current single Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt (Virgin), a tightly honed slice of angular riffs, thudding bass and infectious foot tapping art rock dance moves filtered through a curtain of darkness and close harmonies. Perhaps inevitably tagged as a new Hot Hot Heat, they’re going to need to add to the output before final assessments are made but advance tasters of This Scene Is Dead, Inaction and This Means War from upcoming debut album The Wolf’s Hour suggest the report card is going to be straight As.

7.30pm. £5. Little Civic.(+ Tue 23, Custard Factory, 10pm £4). Mike Davies

---

Wednesday August 24

Bad Religion

Fuelled by righteous rage over their government’s current foreign and domestic policies and the role right wing conservative religion is playing in US politics, the rock punk sextet deliver one of their most potent albums in years with The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph). The three guitars are spitting fire here, hammering through breakneck three minutes and under riffage and rich harmonies on pretty much self-explanatory titles as Los Angeles Is Burning, Let Them Eat War, Atheist Peace, Social Suicide, the pre-emptive title track and, slowing it down a pace, To Another Abyss and the steamrollering Boot Stamping On A Human Face Forever. Long standing BR devotees might wonder what’s going on musically with Beyond Electric Dreams where their standard issue Dead Kennedys punk pounding gets layered over with a storm of techo and a lyric that, with words like theophany and ratiocination, seems to have swallowed a dictionary, but there’s nothing here that leaves you in doubt about their mission - as polemicists or musicians - for a second. Convert and worship.

 7.30pm. £12.50. Carling Academy 2. Mike Davies

---

Tuesday August 30

Juliette & The Licks

The fact her screen career has seen better days has, of course, nothing to do with the fact Juliette Lewis has joined the ranks of actors who’ve formed rock bands. In fact, if you think back to her work in the likes of Natural Born Killers and Kalifornia, she’s always had white trash southern rock chick attitude. And she’s already done rehab. Now she’s got the music to go with it.

Taking her cue from Guns n Roses, Patti Smith, Courtney Love and, by way of contrast, Lucinda Williams, their debut album, Speaking My Language (Hassle) is a fiery assault of big driving guitar riffs and hammering drums rock n roll shouted out bluesy style by Lewis as she lays bare such clearly autobiographical tales of addiction and getting clean as the punky Pray For The Band Latoya or the anti-drugs battering title track or slides into caustic political fury with the searing talked through Patti Smith emulating American Boy Vol 2.

It’s not all such blood and fists stuff though. I Never Got To Tell You What I Wanted To is a bluesy moaner where Lewis sounds like a Southern take on Marianne Faithful, This I Know heads into drawled country territory and the closing Long Road Out Of Here is a sultry torch song. Seventh Sign and Got Love To Kill even sound like a wired Blondie.

Working with a tight line-up of guitarists Todd Morse and Kemble Walters, bassist Jason Womack and drummer Jason Morris, she’s not only delivered a crackingly impressive debut but has already stoked up a reputation for electrifying live shows too, throwing herself around the stage in a frenzy of head shaking and body jerking that makes your average revivalist preacher seem like a country parson. Go share the sweat.

7.30pm, £11. Carling Academy 2. Mike Davies