Although Thursday has an uncharacteristic lack of original music options, there is still plenty to get involved in for the discerning music aficionado, so buckle up were going in….
Friday
Worry Dolls + Canute’s Plastic Army @ The Beehive
At The Beehive The Worry Dolls take folk and country, pop melodicism and roots vibes and blend them into wonderfully infectious and harmoniously glorious musical statements that lilt between southern bayous and English pastoral scenes. Support comes from the intriguingly named Canute’s Plastic Army also a duo but one blending delicate acoustica with soaring, bluesy vocals.
Plummie Racket and The Dicemen, The Vooz, A Way With Words + Matt Bryant @ The Castle
Plummie Racket and The Dicemen spearhead a collection of local bands. This line up have been hinting a slightly wider musical palette, sure, the punky, modish indie kick still lies at its core but latest e.p. Wait For Tomorrow shows that warped alt-dance vibes and more reflective acoustic numbers are not off limits either.
That collision of garage rock, punk and indie also runs through The Vooz musical veins whilst A Way With Words offer a darker, alt-rock vibe. Matt Bryant’s cool and classy acoustic creations open the night.
Saturday
Haxan @ The Queens Tap
Formerly known as The Kix, three-piece girl rockers, Haxan return with their perfect blend of melodic rock, riotous riffs and raw-edged guitar salvos. Haxan prove what I have always thought, that three piece bands are the perfect musical package, the three necessary components and nothing else meaning that everyone has a job to do and there is no hiding from the spotlight. Good, honest visceral rock and roll.
Sunday
IDestroy @ The Rolleston
And talking of three-piece, all female rock and roll…IDestroy are back with a vengeance. Since we last saw them in town, blowing a hole in last years Swindon Shuffle proceedings, they have certainly put the hours in gig wise so expect their rebranded line in late seventies New York garage rock to be even more potent, even more feisty, even more unmissable.
Catgod + Moleville @ The Tuppenny
Something a bit more chilled is happening at The Tuppenny with two acts who work with some hypnotic and wonderful soundscapes. Oxford duo Catgod take elements of latin beats, soul grooves and trip-hop to paint wonderfully exotic musical pictures, whilst Moleville (the nome de plume of Familairs main man Steve Skinley) offer more panoramic and washed out visions.
Wednesday
Alan Reed and The Daughters of Expediency @ The Victoria
And finally as the karaoke chaos of Wacky Wednesday takes over the bar of The Victoria, in the venue below a piece of my own formative music history comes back to haunt me. As a young music devourer of no fixed haircut and far reaching tastes, one of the bands I dedicated my gig going allowance to was a Scottish neo-prog outfit called Pallas. Thirty odd years later and their ex-front man wanders into Swindon with hardly a mention. Alan Reed is currently touring his latest album, Honey On The Razors Edge, which combines the sweeping celtic grandeur of his debut album with the more intricate and harder lines of his work with Pallas and reminds at least one person that tempus does indeed fugit!
