DIY indie kids Parquet Courts soaked up the critical acclaim last year with their third record, ‘Human Performance’: a super-earnest, proudly non-muso affair in the tradition of Velvet Underground, Devo, or more recently, Courtney Barnett. Armchair philosopher and vocalist Andrew Savage ruminates on love, loneliness and existence; the band around him clatters and strums like the soundtrack to an awkward Wes Anderson car chase – busy, chiming guitars and lightly propulsive rhythms. These are rough-around-the-edges musicians reclaiming music itself, unmistakeably New York-born, the punk creed deep in their bloodstream: as Savage put it on the band’s debut, “Music / Matters / More than ever.” With support from London retro-indie band Ultimate Painting.

Thu 31 Aug, 7pm at The O2 Institute, 78 Digbeth High Street Birmingham B5 6DY £17.25 seetickets.com