Flight of the Conchords | Tue 26 Jun | Genting Arena | Rescheduled
Rescheduled from March. New Zealand’s ‘Fourth most popular folk duo’ spent two decades playing it straight: beneath the deadpan comedy is the not-so-secret fact that McKenzie and Clement’s music is actually killer, able to pastiche and lampoon pretty much any style, subject or scenario through hilarious lyrics and watertight delivery. See our full preview here.

Slow Crush | Thu 28 Jun | Subside | FREE
Belgian shoe-gaze revivalists Slow Crush live up to their name pretty well, a heavy iceberg of sound that glistens beautifully as it drifts unstoppable into your hindbrain. It’s your first chance to hear cuts from their highly anticipated debut, due to drop on Holy Roar in September. Labelmates Pijn provide support.

Hoopla Blue | Fri 29 Jun | Dark Horse | FREE
Indie futurists, and Brum’s answer to the baroque harmonies and twisting structures of Grizzly Bear or Adult Jazz: Hoopla Blue are the second city’s hot ticket for enveloping, confounding guitar pop. Catch them at Moseley’s Dark Horse – for free, no less – and catch a taste of new material they’ve been developing in the Scottish Highlands.

A Certain Ratio | Sat 30 Jun | Hare & Hounds | SOLD OUT
Beg, borrow or steal your way into this one: the legendary ‘Joy Division in better threads’ and darlings of the early Manchester scene, A Certain Ratio revive their post-punk, disco, funk, brass and dub sounds in the Hare & Hounds for a once-in-a-lifetime reunion event. See our full preview here.

The Flapper: Final Weekend ft. God Damn, &U&I | Fri 29 – Sat 30 Jun | The Flapper | £10 otd
The iconic and much-loved local dive, the Flapper, was due to close its doors on 30th June: with a 12 months extension now granted turn the commiserations into celebrations with a tasty line-up of Midlands noise-makers. The two-man freight-train sleazefest God Damn headline on Friday, with support from Victor and False Grails. Best of all, dearly departed post-punk maelstrom &U&I reunites on the Saturday, with support from Bovine.

Bas | Mon 2 Jul | O2 Institute 3 | £15
Queens-based, Paris-born rapper Bas turned heads with 2016’s ‘Too High to Riot’, released on J.Cole’s Dreamville label: despite its title, Bas delivered emotion and depth with a socially-conscious, hyperaware view from the East Coast. With new music on the horizon and high-profile collaborations in the bag, now’s the time to tune in to the intercontinental rapper’s flow. seetickets.com

Deap Vally | Mon 2 Jul | Castle & Falcon | £12
Imagine that raw, stripped-back White Stripes sound, channeled through the spit-n-spunk attitude of the crazy, early Yeah Yeah Yeahs days: you won’t be surprised to learn Deap Vally’s sophomore album ‘Femejism’ (you heard me) was produced by YYY guitarist Nick Zinner, and it’s a glorious, hard-riffing, take-no-prisoners riot. Brace yourselves. seetickets.com