Martha Wainwright | Mon 30 Jan | Town Hall | £20.50
One of only a handful of UK shows Martha Wainwright will be playing this month, catch the eccentric songstress at the Town Hall for an avalanche of piano keys, murmuring sax, and a rush of percussion in an enveloping, intoxicating snowstorm. New album ‘Goodnight City’ draws on a wide musical palette, drawing in disparate songwriters and styles; at the heart of it all is Martha’s always-remarkable voice, her shameless intensity and bloodied determination. See our full preview here.

Menace Beach | Thu 2 Feb | Hare & Hounds | £7.50
Featuring something of a rotating cast of British underground luminaries (Department M, Sky Larkin and more) the messy motorik fuzz-rock of Menace Beach is a remarkably focused affair. On their new album ‘Lemon Memory’, Liza Violet and Ryan Needham trade off dreamy melodies above the fray of a three-guitar assault that ranges from Sonic Youth psych-outs to crunchy pop riffs. They may be as underrated as their collective history, but we hope Menace Beach stick around for a while yet. seetickets.com

Strobes, Three Step Manoeuvre & Young Pilgrims | Fri 3 Feb | Hare & Hounds | £8
A night of music hosted by the Young Pilgrims “sort of” marching band is typically a must-see, and this one’s no different. The prismatic math-rock of Strobes is a vision of taut, intricate machinery; a multi-dimensional jigsaw of obtuse riffs, tasty odd-meter grooves and strangely catchy jazz noodling. With the organ-funk of Three Step Manoeuvre and a performance by Young Pilgrims themselves, it’s a night for music nerds and groove aficionados. See our full preview here.

Saint Leonard’s Horses | Sat 4 Feb | Sunflower Lounge | £6
Saint Leonard’s Horses – the alias, or possibly spirit animal, of Kieran Leonard – found his home among the grimy, flawed Saints of Southern Americana: Hiss Golden Messenger, Father John Misty and their no-good ilk. But there’s also an unmistakeable British-ness to last year’s debut, ‘Good Luck Everybody’, a mystical and sometimes anthemic record. Rescheduled from October and well overdue, get up close and familiar with the country rocker at the Sunflower Lounge. See our full preview here.

Black Peaks | Sun 5 Feb | O2 Academy 3 | £10
For this week’s progressive hardcore kicks, Brighton’s Black Peaks revive the spirit of Alexisonfire with their mixture of chain-gang melodies and crushing guitars. Somewhat blessed and cursed by Radio 1 hype in a scene that tends to raise eyebrows at such things, the band seems to have kept their head on debut ‘Statues’, deploying heavy, atmospheric twists and turns to make Mastodon or Oceansize proud. Ones to watch, no doubt. seetickets.com