Paul Reynolds

September 11, 2018

BREVIEW: The August Showcase with Lice, The Lizards, The Hungry Ghosts, Whitelight @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18

Words by Ed King / Pics by Paul Reynolds

Urrgghh… a gig on a Sunday, who has the energy/serotonin left?

Apparently quite a few people, as I saunter (stumble) into the Hare & Hounds Room 2 alongside a very respectable crowd. Numberswise that is, they could all be slow boiling lost children at home for all I know. Or care. My Sunday roll call of compassion is often woefully one-sided. But a strong tail end of the weekend audience have turned out to support RDE and Setting Son’s August showcase – with local lads (and it is a bit of a sausage fest tonight) Whitelight, The Lizards, and The Hungry Ghosts all supporting Joe Talbot’s label champions, Lice.

Whitelight, a band I’ve not heard of before tonight but who I’m reliably told have come from the aftermath of Shaake, take up the first space on the bill – a stripped back twosome, guitar and drums, delivering a big room sound that far surpasses their square inches on stage.

Jokingly I said words to that effect would be my review, but adding ‘fuck me they rock’ probably sums it up quite nicely. There may be a few disjointed moments tonight, in set relying too heavily on the ‘break… and kick in’ rock power play, but the musicianship from this arena filling sound is a more than a little impressive. I could even use the word ‘Hendrix’ and not feel like too much of a fraud. But keep an eye on those listings and make your own addled mind up about them. Whitelight; you have been warned.

Next up are The Hungry Ghosts, a band I love to the core but feel compelled to judge with an extra stern eye. And ear. And gut. And all those things I need to be truthful. But having a replacement bass player on stage tonight – with Miles Cocker filling in for Emily Doyle over a few of the summer months – the most immediate of my knee jerk commentaries is ‘an overwhelming newness’ to their performance tonight.

It’s exciting, it’s rock and roll, but it’s also a little… The stage, for a start, feels too small, with the proficient wall of blues rock tumbling over the first song and smothering ‘Death Rattle Blues’ – the sophomore on the set list tonight. I’ve seen The Hungry Ghosts crammed into much tighter corners, but something is uncomfortably full tonight. And yet there is a… about it all. And as I wrestle with the ellipses that will no doubt be haunting my copy later on, I write ‘too much of something’, ‘this band just keep getting better’, before adding ‘I don’t know’ to my drunk spider scrawl.

‘Lazaro’ follows, with Joe (INSERT SURNAME HERE)’s vocals feeling well rounded for a weekend finale, before a bit of a swing/miss from new song ‘Jesus Fever’ and a somewhat lacking rendition of the tried and tested ‘Super King King’ – one of my longstanding favourites from this band’s slaughterhouse repertoire. But when you’re close to perfection it’s hard to stay consistent, and exciting ebbs and discouraging flows continue from ‘the ghosts’ set tonight – yet I am, once again, left both curious and eager. For all its ferocity and fallacy, it feels like something is brewing in The Hungry Ghosts’ set list tonight, with this Sunday showcase perhaps just first public introduction to an exciting evolution. But never fear; we’ll see/hear from The Hungry Ghosts soon enough, and ‘Shake the Devil’ will no doubt be in there somewhere near the start.

It is now that I must issue an honest, albeit rather unsatisfactory, apology, as I miss The Lizards’ set due to cider and an earth shatteringly endearing band I fell afoul of at the downstairs bar. But I shall leave you with two pearls of wisdom: 1) Orchard Pig cider is not as benign as it sounds, and 2) Liquid Cheeks. And I’ll bet my pension (currently about £32 and a first edition Roald Dahl) that in 18 months time you’ll not need an explanation for the latter.

Time… enough. Attack ships on fire introduce the headline act for tonight, the Bristolian barrage of fun that are Lice. Well documented for bad time keeping and guttural prose, both attributes close to my heart, it is the band’s frontman that I’m most keen to see in full swing. But an army of low thumped drums, distorted feedback, and restrained punk pretensions (if such a thing can exist in the realms beyond oxymoron) are soon taking my eyes across the rough edged four piece. Frontman, Alistair Shuttleworth, who has set the stage for such anarchic atrocities as Fat White Family, owns the Sunday night dwindling crowd from the off – delivering his trademark prose in a way that makes me sit up straight yet miss every word. A linguistic trick I almost love and hate him for in the same short, sharp intake of breath.

But they are commanding, even to a room that seems half empty from the last time I stood in it (The Lizards, cider, downstairs bar, shit journalist…) and I am quickly moving my shoulders in that way a middle aged man does when he wants to let go. Lice last played in Birmingham “on this stage, almost exactly a year ago” as part of the Killer Wave all day August band Holiday event in 2017, and it’s good to see them headline after such a well earned 12 months.

Oddly, even incongruously (if I were a devotee of Paul Dacre) polite, each song gets a stomach propelled “thank you” as Lice blast though their short songs and punchy set – delivering a well meant audio assault that makes me want to invite them, and their backline, to my next birthday party. Superb, SUPERB FUCKING PERCUSSION. But jumping from the tirade of an angry child to the wisdom of someone with something to say, Lice live up to their hype – as the Joe Talbot endorsed ‘fuck you we don’t care’ send out a set that shows this band mean business. And, even somewhat perversely, I believe them. If my mum were here she would probably file for adoption.

Sunday gigs are hard to promote, Lord knows I know – having spent over a year of my life doing it week in week out. But Setting Son and RDE have delivered this end of the weekend ensemble with fine fettle, setting a backbone of local luminaries against a visiting headline act who well deserve the attention. And, wonderfully, there was a good crowd to receive it. Even if the previous 48 hours have left the room’s frontal cortex a little bereft… well, mine at least.

Ha, and now to write a review about it (my ‘get it down as soon as you get home’ policy). But beyond ‘research Whitelight’, ‘The Hungry Ghosts’ new stuff’, ‘buy The Lizards a drink’ and ‘see Lice play on their home turf’, the South Park back catalogue is about all I have left. I bet Burroughs never had this problem. Possibly a bad comparison. Now, where’s that corkscrew and laptop power cable gone…

Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on Lice, visit www.facebook.com/licebristol

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The Lizards – supporting Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on The Lizards, visit www.soundcloud.com/allyourfriendsarelizards

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The Hungry Ghosts – supporting Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on The Hungry Ghosts, visit www.thehungryghosts.co.uk

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Whitelight – supporting Lice @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on Whitelight, visit www.officialwhitelight.com

For more from Setting Son, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/settingsonrecords

For more on the Hare & Hounds, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

August 31, 2018August 31, 2018

BPREVIEW: Rews @ The Flapper 17.11.18

Words by Ed King

On Saturday 17^th November, Rews will be performing at The Flapper – rounding off their selected UK tour at Birmingham’s iconic live music venue.

Doors open at 7pm, with tickets priced at £10 (+bf) – available from Friday 31^st August. For direct event information, including full tour details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

There are certain press release that raise a smile at Birmingham Review. True, lots of them have the words ‘free’ and ‘bar’ in them, but the one that landed on our desk a few days ago was even better than bourbon for gratis. If such a thing were possible (it is, just).

Rews are coming back to Birmingham, playing at The Flapper on Saturday 17^th November. And with only 38 days after this gig until The Big Day we feel the expression ‘Christmas come early’ is entirely justified.

If you don’t know who Rews are… a sharp intake of breath… they’re a high octane ‘rock powerhouse’ that have drawn comparisons to Royal Blood (but with better melodies). Made up of Shanua Tohill (guitar vocals) and Collette Williams (percussion, vocals) Rews were the first UK signing on Marshall Records – coming out punching from the legendary rock brand’s corner with their debut album, Pyro, in November 2017.

A string of singles, tours, and festival appearances followed Rews’ extremely confident debut, gathering some well deserved attention from the rock focused media and then pretty much every pundit with a brain at the BBC (including Mark Radcliffe, who cited Rews as one of his highlights from Glastonbury 2017). To read our Birmingham Review of Pyro, click here.

One eight planet dance later and Rews are back in Birmingham, rounding off a five date UK tour at The Flapper – the venue where Birmingham Review first saw them back in February ’17. And it is live that you really want to experience this band, with a ferocious energy and endearing candour flooding off stage every time we’ve shared a room them – click here to read our Birmingham Review of Rews at The Flapper, at the Actress & Bishop, and at the Hare & Hounds.

But things got better and better as we scrolled down the aforementioned press release, because there’s a new single on the table too – ‘Can You Feel It?’ will be released by Rews on 21^st September, through Marshall Records. An absolute blinder, this is has been one of our favourite tracks from Rews since we first heard it, with the soon to be set free single getting added production value from Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me the Horizon, Don Broco, Lower Than Atlantis).

We’ve had a sneak peak of the new ‘Can You Feel It?’ too and it’s PROPER AWESOME. Seriously, just wait – as soon as we can share something we will. But in the interim you can keep yourself happy/distracted with the last two singles to come from Rews – check out ‘Your Tears’ and ‘Shine’ below.

Here’s a message from Shauna Tohill about the soon to be released ‘Can You Feel It?’ too:

“Can You Feel it? is a song that takes a positive spin on hurt feelings. It encourages the listener to ‘let it out’, ‘dance’, ’sing’ and not be afraid to explore how they feel in order to better themselves & learn to love again. It was inspired and written during a period of heartbreak and describes the stages of grief that we endure.”

‘Your Tears’ – Rews

‘Shine’ – Rews

Rews come to The Flapper in Birmingham on Saturday 17^th November – as presented by Metropolis Music/Live Nation, in association with Birmingham Review. For direct gig information, including full tour details and links to online ticket sales, click here.

‘Can You Feel it?’ will be released by Rews on 21^st September through Marshall Records. For more on Rews, visit www.rewsmusic.com

For more from Metropolis Music, visit www.metropolismusic.com

For more on The Flapper, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.theflapper.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

August 11, 2018August 11, 2018

BPREVIEW: The August Showcase with Lice, The Lizards, The Hungry Ghosts, Whitelight @ Hare & Hounds 12.08.18

Words by Ed King

On Sunday 12^th August, Setting Son Records and RDE present The August Showcase – with Lice, The Lizards, The Hungry Ghosts, and Whitelight all playing at the Hare & Hounds.

Doors open at 6pm, with advance tickets available for a mere £7 sterling plus a smidgen of a booking fee… which works out at around £1.75 a band, so literally cheaper than chips. Although a small cone of chips are available across the road for £1.25, so literally cheaper than some chips.

For direct event information and links to online ticket sales, click here. For the rest Google ‘Charlie’s Chippy Kings Heath’.

Lice have been steadily creating that kind of hard earned hype for a couple of years now – burrowing deep into the Bristolian live music circuit, snapping up support slots with The Fall and Fat White Family, then heading out across the UK to open for Idles on a sell out nationwide tour.

But the latter didn’t stop on stage, with Joe Talbot signing Lice as the first band to climb aboard his relatively recent imprint – Balley Records. And with fearsome mix of reverberation, guttural prose, swagger, more swagger, alongside an almost poetic approach to bass playing (see their Facebook page) and equine immolation (see below) you can see a well justified postcode partnership emerging. As Talbot told the NME back in April, “to act as a Trojan horse and allow bands that we like to be in a sphere of opportunity that we didn’t get is great. It’s a bit like having a plus one to a party. It feels amazing, it feels exciting and it feels like a privilege that we have that in our hands.”

Lice released their It All Worked Out Great double EP, through Balley Records, in May this year – described by Louder than War as a ‘rabble-rousing selection of wryly dark and humorously unhinged tales, sound-tracked by a dissonant post-punk noise.’ So, erm, yeah. Sold. But coming back to Birmingham after last appearing at the Killer Wave bank holiday all dayer in August 2017, this is another chance to see Lice live on stage and in all their glorious Sunday goodness. And that’s not a bad way to wave goodbye to your weekend

But if you need a more regional reason to drag yourself off the sofa and out the door, then we have three – with The Lizards, The Hungry Ghosts, and Whitelight also playing at The August Showcase. So, sold. Sold. And sold again. All for less than a tenner and a potato based snack, pass the ketchup.

‘Stammering Bill’ – Lice

Setting Son Records and RDE present The August Showcase – with Lice, The Lizards, The Hungry Ghosts, and Whitelight all playing at the Hare & Hounds on Sunday 12^th August. For direct event information and links to online ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page by clicking here.

For more on Lice, visit www.facebook.com/licebristol

For more on The Lizards, visit www.soundcloud.com/allyourfriendsarelizards

For more on The Hungry Ghosts, visit www.thehungryghosts.co.uk

For more on Whitelight, visit www.officialwhitelight.com

For more from Setting Son, including further event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.facebook.com/settingsonrecords

For more on the Hare & Hounds, including venue details and further event listings, visit www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

July 9, 2018

THE GALLERY: P.E.T @ The Sunflower Lounge 01.07.18

Words by Lydia Fizer / Pics by Paul Reynolds

Otherwise known as the Oven of Aural Delights, >1000°C. “Me eyebrows are comin’ off!” – Molly McDonald, P.E.T bassist extraordinaire.

P.E.T. Ah, what can I say about P.E.T? That I’m beyond excited to see them again. That they have the purest punk sound which will pierce you to the core. That they’ve chosen their favourite local bands for the lineup tonight. It’s gonna be a good one. I can feel it in my water.

This gig is special, and not just because the lineup promises greatness. Tonight is the first time that the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign stickers are in action. These are part of a larger campaign working against the cases of sexual assault, violence, and misconduct which are making our local music scene unsafe. Right this moment, P.E.T vocalist Abi Whistance is scouring the venue, slapping a sticker on anyone she can reach.

If you see these stickers at a music event in the future, please wear one. Even better, order some and distribute them. We are all responsible for showing solidarity in the face of sexual aggression, and demonstrating to the perpetrators that their actions will not be tolerated. You can get the stickers and information here, and even more information about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK campaign here. As Whistance would say, “Get your hands off me, I’m not your P.E.T!”

Onwards. The first band to the stage are Flares, a babyfaced bundle of punk realness. They’re only 14/15 years old, but they are not to be underestimated. Their music is more mature than some bands twice their age.

They open with ‘Anywhere, Anywhere’ and bring a sound that hits your chest like a hammer. Their instrumentals are at once grungy and sharp. They move to the music with confidence. Flares are strong enough that covers of iconic songs are vibrant from their mouths. They get the whole room dancing to Buzzcocks’ ‘Ever Fallen in Love’, and stamp their own sound into M.I.A.’s ‘Paper Planes’. The beat keeps rolling right to the end of their final track, ‘Pastime’. They don’t put a note wrong.

Next up are The Butters Aliens. They have electric vocals from Ed Draper and an irresistible sound. The room is a mass of flailing limbs within the first minute of their set.

They smash a cover of FIDLAR’s ‘Stoked and Broke’, and I can’t help thinking that they play with unbelievable accuracy if they’re as baked as they claim. It’s so catchy. So memorable. It’s shoe-throwingly good (no, really. Shoes and hats are cast asunder. You don’t need them in hell). Later they cover FIDLAR’s ‘No Waves’. The old YouTube videos don’t do these covers justice at all; this show is leaving me blissfully broken – as Draper sings in ‘No Waves’, “I need a new body and I need a new soul”.

They set light to another firecracker, ‘Powerslide’. It makes me smile to see drummer Matt Homback briefly swap places with vocalist/guitarist Draper. Bring your drummers to the front and let them feel the love. They follow this with ‘No Name’. I’m left feeling like I need their CD for when I want to bounce around like a monkey on crack (admit it, you know how I feel).

There’s a whole load of gorgeous camaraderie between the bands tonight. They start mosh pits in one another’s honour, they write each other’s initials across their chests. Vocalist/guitarist of Miilkk, Jack Dixon, is called onto stage with The Butters Aliens to lend his exuberance. The Aliens end on an unearthly headbanging beat. Miilkk take to the stage. Drummer Fin Elwell-Jones’ facial glitter twinkles with promise.

I love it. The crowd loves it. I couldn’t have predicted this – Miilkk have a few bits and pieces on YouTube, but not enough to convey their real character. I left their YouTube account thinking The Moldy Peaches. I see them live and they turn the room into a metal party. Dixon has a classic, almost scratchy voice which takes me back to the first time I heard Kurt Cobain sing (‘Lithium’, in case you were wondering. I forget the year).

Miilkk whip out a fantastic cover of FIDLAR’s ‘Cheap Beer’, supercharging the crowd with an incredible hook. This was a cover worth screaming over (and won’t be the last FIDLAR cover of the night. Why so many songs by FIDLAR? I’m beginning to think this is a conspiracy. Maybe all the bands are actually FIDLAR in disguise. We may never know for sure).

There’s a brief moment where I think I hear bassist Harry Snell sneak a beautiful punk falsetto scream. It was so quick I might have imagined it. Snell, is it real or am I dreaming? If it is real, do it again. Bigger.

Elwell-Jones has lost his shirt by this point. He has ‘THICC DADDY’ scrawled across his chest in red. I notice it through a haze of happiness – I’m riding on bass vibrations running from my fingers to my skull. Miilkk are my favourite band so far. I’m not sure what kind of milk these guys are selling, but I bet it’s of the Clockwork Orange variety because I am tripping.

They do a cover of Dead Kennedys’ ‘California Über Alles’, causing one of the most hyperactive mosh pits of all time. The crowd gets down to the floor, thrumming like motors during the buildup. The room leaps – Dixon steps into the crowd with his guitar – they finish with a marching beat and a wail.

Miilkk launch into a string of cracking originals, including ‘Miss Tequila’ and ‘Pilly Willy’ (which is fast and furious – unlike the willy in question, presumably). They end with their newest song ‘Chinese Wine’; the chorus is the stuff that metal dreams are made of. Dixon screams with soul – I feel it in my bones.

Finally, it’s time for P.E.T. I’ve seen them before. I fell in love with them very quickly, and I’m thrilled to see them again as a headline act. Each band member is a powerhouse of sass. They’re fronted by Abi Whistance, the Ultimate Punk Dream Girl. She’s all fishnets and fiery eyes.

They hurl into the first number, ‘Internalised’, with all the force I’d ever hoped for. They have so much confidence, channeling their power and energy in every way possible. I can’t express how happy this makes me. A few months ago, a little confidence was all they needed to become practically perfect. I reckon they’ve now arrived in their most fabulous form, like a fully evolved Pokémon ready to win every battle.

They play ‘Bunnyboiler’, and bassist Rosie Jones grooves like the goddess that she is. Their cover of The Ting Tings’ ‘Shut Up and Let Me Go’ is honestly better than the original. You’d agree if you heard it. It’s hard not to be lured in by Whistance; she has the piercing voice of a punk-rock siren. A mass of crowd members clamber onto stage and stamp out the beat. They move on to ‘TV’, then finally to my favourite song of theirs, ‘P.E.T’. I really want them to record it so that I can listen to it every second of the day forever.

P.E.T are so entertaining on stage. They’re engaging. They’re cool, witty, personable… I can’t praise them enough. They prepare to cover Pixies’ ‘Tame’. Here unfolds my favourite moment so far. McDonald announces, “I went to Poundland and got some prizes. It’s a bit sh*t […] but whoever moshes the best gets a personal prize from me.” We take this challenge very seriously. The three winners each earn a medal and a lifelong invisible badge of honour. Also, glowsticks for everyone.

The whole crowd screams along to ‘Tommy’ – it’s P.E.T’s first recorded track, which you can listen to for free. It was actually written about the antics of The Butters Aliens, which gives the gig an interesting dynamic; I almost feel like I’m at an alt-family reunion/roasting. McDonald is suddenly wearing Draper’s hat, and more shoes are thrown into the air. How does this keep happening? I’m surrounded by hobbits.

They prepare to play their best known cover. McDonald cries, “Does anyone know all the words to ‘Wannabe’? Anybody can get up if they want.” A mass of crowd members get onto the stage. Together, the crowd and P.E.T give a performance The Spice Girls would die for.

For the final song of the night, we are treated to something spectacular. A song they’ve never played before. A song they’ve only rehearsed once. If I thought the energy was high before, this is a whole new level. Introducing: ‘Rich People’.

There are a series of famous names. Whistance growls, fangs bared, “Weinstein […] Morgan Freeman […]”. She comes to the edge of the stage, trembling like a bomb. “Rich people don’t dance in movies. Rich people don’t dance in films”.

I can’t convey the intensity of the performance in words. I’m afraid you’ll just have to go and see P.E.T yourself.

P.E.T @ The Sunflower Lounge 01.07.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on P.E.T, visit www.facebook.com/petbanduk

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Miilkk – supporting P.E.T @ The Sunflower Lounge 01.07.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on Miilkk, visit www.facebook.com/MIILKKBand

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The Butters Aliens – supporting P.E.T @ The Sunflower Lounge 01.07.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on The Butters Alien, visit www.soundcloud.com/buttersaliens

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Flares – supporting P.E.T @ The Sunflower Lounge 01.07.18 / Paul Reynolds

For more on Flares, visit www.facebook.com/Flares

For more on Psych Productions, visit www.psychproductions.co.uk

For more from The Sunflower Lounge, including venue details and full event listings, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com

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NOT NORMAL – NOT OK is a campaign to encourage safety and respect within live music venues, and to combat the culture of sexual assault and aggression – from dance floor to dressing room.

To sign up to NOT NORMAL – NOT OK, click here. To know more about the NOT NORMAL – NOT OK sticker campaign, click here.

June 28, 2018

BPREVIEW: P.E.T @ The Sunflower Lounge 01.07.18

Words by Ed King / Pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe

On Sunday 1^st July, P.E.T headline at The Sunflower Lounge, with support from Miilkk, The Butter Aliens + Flares – as presented by Psych Productions.

Tickets are priced at £6 and available on the door or in advance through the bands performing, so click on any of the highlighted names in this BPREVIEW for the relevant links. Likewise, to visit the Facebook Event Page click here.

P.E.T have somewhat stormed onto the Birmingham music scene, only forming back in October last year yet already carving a place for themselves at the forefront of Birmingham’s punk rock fraternity. Full of raw energy and musical smarts, this Abi Whistance fronted four piece have supported acts from Rews to The Cosmics – delivering a powerful punk rock punch wherever they appear on the bill, driven by the ferocious energy of their ‘tiny but mighty’ lead singer. Not one of our descriptions, but one we love all the same.

But it’s the unity from this band in their entity that makes them so special; both on stage and off, P.E.T are a “real fucking rock band” – to steal a summation that was once yelled out by the Alabama 3 frontman to The Hungry Ghosts. Yep, we’re putting P.E.T in that camp – namely the one where all the bands who kick ass with integrity live. Plus, guitarist Molly McDonald’s dry humour – with some awesome to/fro with bassist Rosie Jones – is freakin’ hilarious. (P.E.T‘s drummer, Kris Szulecki, is also a bit of a legend, but too covered in cymbals to get much of a vocal input whilst performing. Catch him at the bar though…)

But it’s no secret at Birmingham Review we think P.E.T are all alterations of awesomeness, and if you want a bit more background for your bounce rate then check out our 2cents on P.E.T’s debut single, ‘Tommy’, which came out on Friday 4^th May. And if you haven’t seen P.E.T live yet, you can expect a high octane set with some delicious band banter; on stage is absolutely where they shine this band shines the brightest. In all seriousness, P.E.T are a bit of a ‘golden marker’ as my friend used to call it, and as ‘of the moment’ / ‘one to watch’ as you can respectably get on Birmingham’s gig circuit right now. If you have half a live music heart you should pay this band some well deserved attention.

Sliding into the first base of main support are Miilkk, the self professed ‘messy psych, punk, grunge band from Birmingham’ who have a less than discerning taste in cider. We’re not overly familiar with this local three piece at BRHQ, but Miilkk have come recommended to us by P.E.T and that’s usually a good enough witness statement for us. Although if you need a more autonomous introduction, I would like to present to the court Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

Next on the bill are The Butters Aliens, again with the whole hearted support from the night’s headline act. Spangly, jangly, bouncy, garage rock, The Butters Aliens have been on the Birmingham Review Hit List for a while now, and seeing as the current default setting is ‘HEATWAVE’ we thought it would be about the right time to check them out. In a tiny, packed out, sweat filled subterranean mosh pit. In for a penny…

Then there’s Flares, bringing some more indie rock flavour to the evening’s proceedings. Again, we’re not overly familiar with Flares but they did bash out a pretty impressive support set at the Rose Dive gig back in May. Plus, there are a couple of recordings from their recent session at Rain Studios that are certainly worth checking out. But, again (again) if it’s got the P.E.T seal of approval then we’re prepared to sacrifice a pint and a half of cider on the door charge to find out.

So there you have it, not a bad way to see out your weekend. And as mentioned before, tickets can be bought on the door or in advance from the bands themselves – so click on the highlighted links in this BPREVIEW or click here for the Facebook Event Page.

On Sunday 1^st July, P.E.T headline at The Sunflower Lounge with support from Miilkk, The Butters Aliens + Flares – as presented by Psych Productions. For direct event information, visit www.facebook.com/events/1068346046636931

For more on P.E.T, visit www.facebook.com/petbanduk

For more on Miilkk, visit www.facebook.com/MIILKKBand

For more on The Butters Alien, visit www.soundcloud.com/buttersaliens

For more on Flares, visit www.facebook.com/Flares

For more on Psych Productions, visit www.psychproductions.co.uk

For more from The Sunflower Lounge, including venue details and full event listings, visit www.thesunflowerlounge.com