Violet | Wed 20 Dec | Sunflower Lounge | £5
Birmingham newbies Violet have been honing their chops for some time, channelling the best of 90s Britpop and grunge into a hazy, anthemic rush somewhere between the Verve and Smashing Pumpkins. First single ‘Feel’ is their only recorded output to date, so you’ll have to get down to the Sunflower Lounge to find out if the rest of the band’s set lives up to their widescreen ambitions. seetickets.com
Swampmeat Family Xmas | Thu 21 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £5
This early Christmas bonanza comes courtesy of self-described garage-rock hicks the Swampmeat Family Band; a feast of heavy-going indie rock, including the spaced-out Americana of The Hungry Ghosts, six-piece yankee-blues machine Independent Country, and the razor-sharp, blood-sweat-n-tears country rock of the Family Band themselves. Come on down to stomp your boots and make the West Midlands feel a little more like West Virginia. www.skiddle.com
This is Tmrw & Foma Christmas Party | Thu 21 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £5 (OTD only)
Brum stalwarts This is Tmrw and FOMA present an undeniably dynamite bill of local talent. Youth Man top the bill, a self-destructive afropunk trio slinging their sleazy trash anthems with aggressive abandon. Noise-pop saboteurs Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam share the skull-hammering chops from this year’s long-awaited double-album. Local indie-futurists Hoopla Blue and ruinous drone-punks Mutes fill out an unmissable line-up that will make you feel as bloated and wrecked as the most deleterious Christmas dinner. Tickets on the door only. www.skiddle.com
The Mother Earth Experiment | Sat 23 Dec | The Sunflower Lounge | £6
Prog-rock six-piece the Mother Earth Experiment are Zappa to the core, from their geeky funk-rock grooves, to their dense psychedelic atmospheres and their unabashed ecological proselytising. ‘Cool Down Mama’ is a case in point, clean licks, bellbottom-tight grooves, bongo jams and straight-up freaky breakdowns. Nothing’s off-limits in the Mother Earth Experiment’s handbook, and the band’s pure earnestness is what carries the whole thing off. seetickets.com
Misty’s Big Adventure and The Dollcanoes | Sun 24 Dec | Hare & Hounds | £8
Lounge-jazz pop-punks Misty’s Big Adventure are long-time legends of the Birmingham experimental scene, the cult band’s cult band of choice; a sixteen-legged monster of psychedelic tomfoolery, fronted by the deadpan drawl of Grandmaster Gareth. Although rarely spotted these days, the traditional Christmas Eve gig is a welcome chance to catch a slice of these oddball heroes; with support from the stripped-back no-wave punk of Dollcanoes. skiddle.com
Words: Chris Donald - Gigs Editor
Published on: Sun 10 Dec 2017