Iain Matthews | Wed 2 Aug | Kitchen Garden Café | £10
Old-school folk troubadour Iain Matthews breezes through the Kitchen Garden Café on his endless travels. Having started his career in the pop explosion of the 60s, Matthews has been through it all – rockabilly and surf, baroque pop, country – with a prolific pen and an irrepressible knack for melody. wegottickets.com

Bellevue Days | Thu 3 Aug | The Sunflower Lounge | £6
Croydon rockers Bellevue Days return to the fold with their new EP ‘Rosehill’: by turns raucous, uplifting, ambient and mournful, it packs a hefty punch and throws in plenty of unexpected turns. The band hews pretty close to the sound Brand New perfected on ‘The Devil & God..’ (and why wouldn’t you?) but make no mistake, they do it well. Besides, unlike their Long Island heroes, these guys are actually putting out new music… seetickets.com

Regina Spektor | Sat 5 Aug | Symphony Hall | £30.50 – £38
The wonderful Regina Spektor has always been entirely true to herself; though last year’s ‘Remember Us To Life’ and the wild soundtrack to ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ feel miles removed from Spektor’s breakout album ‘Soviet Kitsch’, at their heart you can still clearly see the same smart, esoteric, lovably weird New Yorker who stormed onto indie film soundtracks all those years ago. See our full preview here.

Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam | Sat 5 Aug | Hare & Hounds | £5.50
Renowned local noise-pop saboteurs Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam release their hotly anticipated new album with this embarrassingly extravagant all-day line-up at the Hare & Hounds. From militant chain-gang slogans, coagulating bursts of guitar, and skull-hammering drums to monolithic doom-mongering drones, they’re another shining example of the untameable post-punk that Birmingham does better than anyone. See our full preview here.

Sunshine Bloom | Sat 5 Aug | The Flapper | £6otd
Sunshine Bloom’s EP ‘Power Pop is Dead’ may have a tongue-in-cheek name, but there’s nothing ironic about their music: the very palpable love of 10cc, Ben Folds, and all manner of kitsch 70s bands is played straight as an arrow. ‘Power pop’ is definitely an acquired taste, but Sunshine Bloom are betting that it’s far from dead, and they may well be right. Tickets on the door.