Diät | Tue 22 Mar | Hare & Hounds 
The umlaut gives this East Berlin post-punk band’ s origins away. Don’t go thinking the genre hit its peak with Joy Division, although the allusions are certainly present in the jagged, driving, baritone led sound. But be brave and delve beyond those Northern boys’ iconic sound to find the rich vein of bands resurrecting the genre’s early dark, introspective freneticism of which Diät’s cynicism and energy (that has been harnessed both live and on record) stand out making them ones to watch. They hit harder and wear more of a sneer, playing around with song structures and sonic textures ensuring you can’t sit still listening to them.
www.skiddle.com

Shopping | Fri 25 Mar | Rainbow Courtyard
There is simplicity to how Shopping present their songs that should not bely the amount of construction to them. Razor sharp guitar riffs, melodic bass, the tightest of tight drumming, disaffected affronting statements from the front – this kind of directness and purity of songwriting doesn’t come easy. Their attitude is dance first, ask questions later – there is much to pull apart lyrically here from consumerist culture to the highs and lows of the internet age but with quintessentially punk two minute songs and an insatiable, irresistible beat you won’t have a chance to ponder until after the gig. More immediately, they want you forget yourself and lose control – do as you’re told, now.
www.therainbowvenues.co.uk

Alessia Cara | Friday 25th Mar | O2 Institute
SOLD OUT As with the likes of Adele and Future Islands before, Alessia Cara introduced herself to UK audiences on Jools Holland’s vital ‘Later…’ programme, with a standout performance of her now breakthrough hit ‘Here’; a Portishead tinged loner-at-a-party anthem. In the course of three and half minutes we watched her stake her claim to join the ranks of Lorde and Lana as the new breed of pop icon whose insouciance, laid back cool and stare-down confidence are their calling cards. In the opening bars her voice quivered with eyes locked to the floor and hidden behind hair, but then her gaze locks on straight ahead daring us to back down first and her assured, stylish singing is shown to its full potential as she kicks a mic stand back and comes at us challenging all those preconceptions of both teenagers and teenage singers. Whilst her debut record shows the perfectly normal split personality of so many up and comers her age (it runs the gamut from the starkly modern youthful cool of ‘Here’ to more commonplace and insipid young love pop and even early Taylor like country offerings), if her label have confidence to trust her instincts and writing we are seeing a star in the making.
www.o2institutebirmingham.co.uk