Tuesday January 11

Athlete

It’s two years since the Deptford crew’s Mercury Prize nominated debut album, Vehicles and Animals, announced them as strong contenders in the Coldplay meet Beck stakes with its delirious meld of spacecore jazz, summery scuffs and California soul. Yet despite such wonderful offerings as El Salvador and Shake Those Windows, the major breakthrough never quite materialised. Since when the likes of the Snow Patrol and Keane have vaulted over their shoulders to secure the nation’s affections, so upcoming sophomore album Tourist could be a case of make or break. That’s not out until the end of the month, but giving a taste of what to expect this first leg of the tour up also arrives in tandem with first single, Wires (Parlophone), a suitably forlorn orchestrated ballad about hospital trauma that suggests they’re about to give their rivals a serious run for their money.

7.30pm, £12.50, Wulfrun Hall.

 Mike Davies

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Friday January 14

The Mexicolas

Kicking off the New Year with a thrust, the chaps have been busy piling up potential inclusions for their debut album. New material likely to get an airing tonight includes Spies with reggae undercurrents that suggest a nod to The Police, spare, moody bluesy ballad Give Me Your Wings, the abrasively staccato It’s Not My Fault, swaying Radioheadish ballad Oblivious and Whiskey Sorrow where a bluesy moan carries a curious undercurrent of glam.

 9pm, £3, Jug of Ale. Mike Davies

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Friday January 14
Carleen Anderson

Although last year saw the release of her live Grace And Favours CD and DVD (recorded at the Glee), despite being as one of the world’s finest old school r&b singers Anderson’s not had the highest of profiles since the self-released Alberta’s Granddaughter album. Perhaps she’s taking stock since this gig forms part of a Best Of European tour to coincide with the Up To Now (EMI) retrospective that trawls back over the career to include recordings with Brand New Heavies (but not the Young Disciples although there is a 1995 version of Apparently Nothin’) as well as collaborations with Guru (Sights In The City) and Full Flava (Stories) and the rare jazzy funk groove Mr Businessman.

With only one track each from her last studio collection (Dance In The Rain) and the live set (her stunning piano ballad soul cover of Don’t Look Back in Anger), the label’s obviously put the emphasis on the Virgin years and you have to wonder just how much of her involvement in the promotion is down to financial rather than artistic concerns.

Whatever the motives, she remains a stunning live performer and while her most recent jazzy work undoubtedly represents the peak of her powers the chance to hear her revisiting the steps along the way shouldn’t be missed.

7.30pm, £11, Glee Club. Mike Davies

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Friday January 14
Peter Mulvey

Last here as part of the Redbird collaboration with labelmates Jeffrey Foucault and Kris Delmhorst, the Milwaukee born singer songwriter returns under his own banner to promote his sixth album, Kitchen Radio (Signature Sounds). His husky voice reminiscent of Chris Rea while the arrangements and delivery evoke Bruce Cockburn, this first set of original material in four years finds him in solid form. Witty and passionate, personal and political, much here pivots around images of travel (Road To Mallow recounts the animals caught in the headlights driving through Ireland, Denver 6a.m comes straight from observation snapshots in an airport lounge ), of staying put and unchanging (Shirt, Me& Albert) and longing (Falling, Rise), songs inspired by stories heard on his, er, kitchen radio.

He can kick up the dust, as evidenced by the hot licking bluesy Toad (a tribute to a favourite folk club) and the chunky choppy riffs of politically scathing 29c Head (which also turns up on Live At The Talbot, recorded at the roots venue pub in Tregaron) while Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad (and Faraway from Home) evince a perfect affinity for Celtic flavoured rolling folk pop. But it’s the quieter, more reflective moments of such numbers as Thirty and the woodsmoke curls of You that really transfix. Expect the gig to do likewise.

 7.30pm, £9, mac. Mike Davies

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Sunday January 16

Dead Fly Buchowski

Newest contenders out of Glasgow, as you might anticipate from the name this bunch don’t tend to dwell on yearning ballads of the Keane variety. What you do get though are plenty of stuttering guitars, piston pumping rhythms and deep howling scoured vocals delivered with punk sensibilities and the occasional nod to Black Sabbath and a hint of The Fall and Strokes

Freshly signed to Beggars Banquet, their debut album, The Land of the Rough, should be along shortly but for tasters and tour tie ups there’s new single Blackout which lays out the sonic manifesto in a scuzzed surge of crowd churning riffing designed to be played with sweat pouring down bare torsos as arms flail guitars.

7pm, £7, Bar Academy.

Mike Davies

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Tuesday January 18

Velvet Revolver

Slammed together by former Guns n Roses chaps Slash and Duff McKagan with grounded Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland, this new cocktail’s been proving decidedly addictive for those fond of rock n roll filth and heavy riffage. Can’t comment on their debut album coz the label never provided listening pleasures, buy those familiar with their previous incarnations will know what to expect from Weiland’s screams and Slash’s flesh igniting guitar work. Well aware of where they came from, they’re not averse to throwing in some past titbits too, Crackerman most likely to see an airing tonight. Warm up comes courtesy of New Zealand garage boys The Datsuns, their recent album, Outta Sight/Outta Mind, a loud but tired trudge through the Stooges, Saints back catalogue with chunks of Led Zep riffery and AC/DC dumb beered up rock n roll.

7.30pm, £23, NIA.

Mike Davies

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Wednesday January 19

Trash Can Sinatras

Last heard of apparently fading into the sunset back in 1996, the criminally undervalued Glaswegians make another stab at cracking it with ‘comeback’ fourth album Weightlifting (Picnic), an album that, opening up with the fittingly titled jangling psychedelic pop of Welcome Back, recalls the glory days of Aztec Camera and really deserves to see them scooping up the plaudits and sales accorded lesser lights like Keane and co who have followed in their furrow.

Mingling together such soaring summery pop as It’s A Miracle, the tumbling Freetime and the shore spray soul of Usually and the dreamy All The Dark Horses with heartfelt, world weary ballads as Got Carried Away, What Women Do To Men. A tear stained Leave Me Alone and the fragile Country Air, they make it all sound so warm and easy, coating bittersweet reveries with wistful charm. And, sung with gentle wisdom of the heart by Frank Reader (yes, brother of Eddi), the title track itself, a soft, beguilingly gorgeous hymn to endurance and coming through the storms, is one of the year’s true early treasures.

With such golden nuggets as Only Tongue Can Tell, January’s Little Joke and Hayfever making live appearances alongside the new material, you’d be advised to cherish them a little better this time around. Who knows, they might even be prevailed upon to share their lovely rework of  To Sir with Love.

 7.30pm, £7, Bar Academy.

 Mike Davies

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Thursday January 20

The Used

Singer Bert McCracken’s had a rough time of it over the past year or so. There was the very public break up with Kelly Osbourne, two mates died and, perhaps even worse, so did his pet Chihuahua. Understandable then that the Utah band’s recent album, In Love and Death (Reprise) wasn’t exactly full of the joys of Spring. There’s some vicious swipes at the ex on Listening while elsewhere there’s songs about suicide and self-abuse with lines about scabs, needles, death and loss.

Mercifully, it’s not all wrapped up in heavy dirges. While frequently heavy on the riffs (check out Sound Effects and Overdramatics) the band show they also know their way round a pop melody on I Caught Fire, Blink 182ish Cut Up Angels and new single Take It Away while the string enhanced Lunacy Fringe and the swayingly breathy Yesterday’s Feeling come complete with a hint of Beatles influences. And you’d be surprised at just how tender things get on All That I’ve Got where he sings "I still see you lying next to me." It’s about his dog. The Chihuahua. Not Kelly.

A huge progression from the shouty sub Creed rant of their debut, if Bert keeps having such a lousy time of it they could become very big indeed.

7pm, £11.50, Carling Academy.

Mike Davies

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Thursday January 20

22.20s

Having seen out 2004 with their self-titled debut album figuring among the year’s bestm the Lincoln four piece pick up the impetus with their first headlining tour of 2005 and new single, Such A Fool (Heavenly). Originally released on their own label back in trio times but now reworked to include Hammond man Charley Coombs, its perhaps not the most obvious track on the album, but even so it’s a fine example of their channelling of 60s British r&B and Stateside swampy rock into something guaranteed to leave you drenched in sweat.

7.30pm, £8.50, Irish Centre.

 Mike Davies

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Friday January 21

My Chemical Romance

New Jersey punk cut from the Green Day cloth with hook riddled melodies, raging riffs and liberal amount of teen angst, the boys kick off the New Year supporting Taking Back Sunday. They’ll be serving up further reminders of current album, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, an impressive clutch of three minute pop explosions that also trawl in emo and goth influences for their self-declared 'violent, unsafe pop music.'

7.30pm, £11, Carling Academy.

 Mike Davies

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Saturday January 22

Chris & Kellie While

Although Kellie’s being singing with mother Chris since she was 13, what with her solo project and mom’s collaborations with Julie Matthews, it’s taken over a decade for them to actually get round to recording an album together.

That’s finally been put to rights with the aptly titled Chris and Kellie While (Fat Cat) which forms the basis for this tour. Kicking off with a cover of Julie Miller’s achingly lovely Broken Things, accompanied on acoustic guitars and sharing lead vocals it’s a simple celebration of their harmony vocals and the way the pair meld into one another as they sing.

Chris provides three self-penned numbers, taking lead vocal on Memories of You and a live recording of 100 Miles while Kellie stunningly handles duties for Safe Place. Elsewhere they bring tingling sensations to bear on their interpretations of the Indigo Girls’ celebratory Power of Two, Earl Montgomery’s Memories of You (on which Chris plays banjo and underlines the pair’s old school country affections), a powerful rearrangement of the trad transportation ballad Van Diemen’s Land and, arguably the album’s finest touch, the McGarrigles’ Talk To Me Of Mendocino. Should be a cracker of a gig.

8pm, £8, Red Lion, Kings Heath.

Mike Davies

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Saturday January 22/Sunday January 23

Pop Will Eat Itself

The sample friendly standard bearers of grebo rock back in the mid 90s, despite such great tracks as Can U Dig It, Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina, There Is No Love Between Us Anymore, Def Con One and their cover of Sigue Sigue Sputnik’s Love Missile F1 11, the Poppies never got the success and recognition they deserved for pioneering a mix of rap and grunge. They split up in 1996 (and became instantly so much cooler), Richard Marsh going off to form Bentley Rhythm Ace, drummer Fuzz Townsend made his own dance albums and played a load of session work, while singer Clint Mansell’s made something of a name for himself as an award-winning soundtracks composer, most notably Requiem For A Dream.

Anyways, they’ve got back together for a few gigs and, if they can be arsed, possibly a new album, which really shouldn’t be missed if you can manage to stay more sober than the band, if only for the chance of reliving the musical wonder that is Beaver Patrol.

6pm, £15, Carling Academy.

 Mike Davies
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