Jacob Banks | Wed 13 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £13.75
Mixing future sounds with a taste for canonical 90’s R&B, Birmingham’s Jacob Banks nimbly switches feet from synthy EDM runs to 60s soul crooning in the space of a single song. It takes a strong personality to tie together elements this disparate: of course, the gorgeous voice helps, quivering and breaking in exactly the right places, hollering in the distance, then snapping back into total focus and control. seetickets.com
An Evening with She Makes War | Thu 14 Dec | Ort Café | SOLD OUT
A multi-instrumentalist producer and visual artist, Laura Kidd’s grunge-pop outfit couldn’t be better named: She Makes War throws its hooks at you with a pugilistic abandon, all Sleater-Kinney attitude and mile-high choruses. DIY to the core, Kidd tours, records and releases music without management, label or press (and she’s currently raising pledges for upcoming fourth album). So far, she’s becoming a stellar example of just what a local artist can achieve outside the known ‘industry’.
Gleam (Farewell Show) | Fri 15 Dec | Sunflower Lounge | £6
It’s a sad day to be waving goodbye to the shoegaze-flecked torchbearer indie-pop of local Brummies Gleam. Gleam are a revival of the halcyon days of messily anthemic British bands like Cooper Temple Clause and Hope of the States – a fine-tuned blend of stormy chaos and insistent melody – and they bow out leaving us with their first and only EP, ‘Lost Between the Days’. seetickets.com
Dub Pistols | Sat 16 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £15
The electronic beat anarchists Dub Pistols have been abusing our speakers and tweeters for over two decades, with no signs of easing up on the rampant rhythms just yet. Massive rocksteady beats, stomping ska noise, an irresistible dancefloor ethic: just about irresistible. See our full preview here.
Boat to Row | Sun 17 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £10
A Christmas show with Boat to Row – with onstage appearances from Katherine Priddy, God Damn, Goodnight Lenin, and Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam: it’s a bonafide yuletide miracle. Boat to Row specialise in dense, spectacular, slow-burning folk numbers: with the band playing a mix of Christmas tracks and covers, new songs of their own, and audience requests, this promises to be a thoroughly Brum way to get ready for Christmas. With additional support from Batsch and Andy Oliveri. seetickets.com
Words: Chris Donald - Gigs Editor
Published on: Fri 1 Dec 2017