Rationale | Mon 24 Apr | Hare & Hounds | £11
Thanks to an undeniable soul croon, halfway between Horace Andy and John Legend, Zimbabwe-born singer Rationale has been courting no end of ‘One to Watch’ lists this year. Production-heavy R&B is a busy field, but recent EP ‘Vessels’ is an earnest effort that does 80s revisionism right, from its brass synths to its chorus-line melodies. seetickets.com

Spectres | Tue 25 Apr | Hare & Hounds | £6
Bristol noise-rockers Spectres embrace the abrasive, with Sonic Youth’s approach to mangling guitars and Liars’ tendency for droning, hypnotic lullabies. You might think a band whose debut album ‘Dying’ was a distorted mess of skeletal post-punk and ripped-up Jesus Lizard riffs had reached its horizon, but this year’s ‘Condition’ is a warped vortex of appendix-rupturing feedback that show Spectres are prepared to go much, much further into the void. skiddle.com

Deafheaven | Tue 25 Apr | O2 Institute | £19
Deafheaven are a nightmare for heavy metal purists; merging the black metal scene with gorgeous shoegaze guitars, post-rock threnodies and acoustic interludes, they’re true disruptors. But there’s nothing coldly calculated about Deafheaven’s expansive influences, which weave together into an unyielding storm that tears throats and punches guts. 2015’s ‘New Bermuda’ proved the band is still reinventing itself; where they’re going now is anyone’s guess. seetickets.com

Meat Wave | Tue 25 Apr | The Flapper | £9.35
Chicago’s Meat Wave take the best, most anxiety-induced moments of the 90s DC scene, plug in Hot Snakes’ rhythm section, and a garage-rock yell like Guy Picciotto in his prime. This year’s ‘The Incessant’ LP builds on that considerable legacy into an unstoppable rackety bullet train of energy and nausea that destroys everything in its cathartic path. seetickets.com

The Unthanks | Wed 26 Apr | Glee Club | SOLD OUT
Northumbrian folk of the most delicate, astonishing kind, the Unthanks combine gorgeous orchestral arrangements with a knack for traditional folk melodies: Bjork songs from a pre-technological world. It’s an otherworldly experience, unafraid to call up either King Crimson or Anthony and the Johnsons as influences; this Glee Club show is no less adventurous, an exploration of songs and poems by the unearthed talent of Molly Drake.

Jamie Lenman | Thu 27 Apr | O2 Institute | £15
Ex-Reuben frontman Jamie Lenman was an underappreciated linchpin of the UK post-hardcore scene in the 2000s, and he still keeps the torch burning: new single ‘Waterloo Teeth’ does everything right, the same swinging riffs and roaring vocals that inspired countless teenagers to pick up guitars and form bands. The chance to hear new material mixed with Reuben classics is a pretty irresistible combination. seetickets.com

Japandroids | Fri 28 Apr | O2 Institute | £14
Japandroids have been through a few incarnations since the lofi no-wave charm of their debut, ‘Post-Nothing’, but the basic ingredients haven’t changed; they still use the limitations of their two-piece line-up to their advantage, and they still make punch-drunk singalongs as well as anyone short of ‘Axl Rose’-era Against Me!. Rock veterans who still keep finding new ways to approach their scuzz-rock racket, Japandroids are well deserving of their cult status. seetickets.com