The Point, which has been threatened with court action due to a noise complaint, has been granted a stay of execution. In recent weeks, the venue and the Council have worked closely together to agree a plan to further soundproof the venue and give the necessary time for this huge amount of work to be carried out. This has meant that the court action, originally planned for the 21st and 22nd May, will now no longer take place.

Richard Jones, owner of The Point says: "I am pleased that we are not fighting with the Council across a courtroom today and that instead, after a lot of dialogue with them, we have agreed that the venue will be given time to commission internal works to reduce the noise emitting from the building. In taking a more pragmatic and positive approach to this issue, the Council are now working with us to help secure the future of this very unique and important venue for live music and culture in South Wales."

The venue will now shut during the month of August 2008 to carry out the vital soundproofing work, which is likely to cost £50,000.

Richard Jones continues: "At £50,000 it's a huge amount to fund for a small independent business but we hope that people who have some influence in these things will now step forward and help us find a way to make it work".

When the news of the threatened closure of The Point was announced, an online petition was signed by over 5,000 people, including Cerys Matthews, Huw Stephens, members of Los Campesinos!, music industry executives, live agents and national and international acts who have enjoyed playing the venue over the years.

John Rostron, owner-manager of Plug Two who have led the campaign to save The Point has said: "I'm delighted that an agreement has been reached and I hope that, once the work is completed, the venue and its neighbours can co-exist peacefully, which is what everybody wants. I hope that lessons are learnt from this and that existing music businesses, which are so vitally important to Cardiff as a capital and Wales as a nation, are considered when planning applications are made for new builds. This problem isn't unique to Cardiff, The Night And Day venue in Manchester went through a similar proceedings. What is comforting to know is that the level of support for The Point from the industry and the public alike far surpassed that of Manchester's, which demonstrates just how incredible a venue The Point is and how passionate people in Wales are for live music."

Finally, Richard Jones comments: "We have been overwhelmed by the levels of support we have received from fans and bands across Wales and the whole of the UK which I think demonstrates the passion and affinity people feel for The Point."

The Point is a gothic-style, stone-built church that was built in 1900. It has been active as a live music venue since 2003 and has hosted gigs from the likes of The Stereophonics, The Manic Street Preachers, Cerys Matthews, Super Furry Animals, Athlete, Steve Winwood, Glen Tilbrook, Funeral For A Friend, Willy Mason, Candi Staton, The Twang, Joe Jackson, Beirut and Iron And Wine among many others.

Save Cardiff Bay's best music venue from the threat of closure - http://www.keepthepointalive.com

The above band are Space In The 50s. Two of them used to be in Martini Henry Rifles and the other one supports Nottingham Forest. They sound like an unholy alliance of Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Melt Banana, Nation of Ulysses and Husker Du. They also have nice hair. They'll headline in their adopted hometown of Cardiff and support Frommars in Newport.

Frommars were 3 people, then 4, then 3, now 4 again. One of them is bald, listens to Joy Division too much and spends a lot of time on photoshop. He sings. They sound taught, tense, raucous and damn right loud at times but the buggers know a chorus when they see one and never let a song stray too far from a fucking good tune.

Lt Meat are one man. A very funny man in more ways than one. His music could be described as surf/punk orientated weirdo rock, the eqivalent of reading your favourite book backwards, in another language and in the dark, and indeed, is.

Holocene are also a Newport/Cwmbran hybrid thus setting a new world record for the number of people from Cwmbran involved in one gig in Clwb Ifor Bach ever. They sound much like screwing up newspaper, wrapping it in gaffa tape, glazing it and dropping it on a mexican. They say that their influences are the ticking of clocks, the feeling of warm sun on your back, the way you make me feel, you knock me offa my feet eee he! I'm not so sure.

It's also Jonny's birthday in case the worrying picture in a blog below doesn't give you enough hints. Both gigs are 4 quid, the Cardiff one is promoted by this very website, the Newport on by Black Cherub.

Gary Louris, founding member of The Jayhawks plays Cardiff's Barfly on Tuesday night. For those of you new to Louris, he was the principal songwriter and vocalist in The Jayhawks after the departure of Mark Olson; he is often credited with the band's subsequent move from folk-country toward a more progressive, poppier sound.

The Jayhawks were formed in 1985 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Louris had formerly played guitar in a rockabilly band called Safety Last. They recorded seven influential albums prior to going on indefinite hiatus in 2005. Since then there have been sporadic Louris/Olson collaborations, in spring 2005, Louris and Olson toured together billed as "From the Jayhawks: An Evening with Mark Olson & Gary Louris, Together Again." There is also an album by the pair, called Ready For The Flood, expected to be released in late 2008.

Ready For The Flood was produced by The Black Crowes' Chris Robinson who also produced Louris' debut solo album, Vagabonds which was released in early 2008. Vagabonds is available on both CD and vinyl from Diverse Music.

Support on Tuesday comes from local boys Lone Pine who Tim Peacock from Whisperin’ and Hollerin’ described as "defiantly glorious roots-flavoured rock’n’roll" and who am I to argue?

Saturday 14th June sees the latest gig brought to you by Riot Act! promotions. These are always varied and wildly entertaining events bringing together the finest talent from the local area and beyoned. Saturday sees the the four bands detailed below:

Volente
Compared by critics to the likes of Bjork and cult Indie favourites the Sundays, Welsh singer-songwriter Volente, returns to a busy touring schedule to promote her up coming second album, “Butterflies Fall Away”. Her enchanting, lyrical style will suit perfectly the intimate space of Le Pub.

Caballero
Described in arthouse mag ‘Pepto Dismal’ as Newport’s answer to many unasked questions, Caballero return to their old stomping ground of Le Pub with their no-nonsense edgy song driven guitar noise. An invigorating live band not to be missed.

Project Serpo
Newport duo, Project Serpo, mix strong melodies with heavy beats and samples to create a new twist on the late 80’s-early 90’s sound. They create an atmosphere on stage that sweats across the crowd with an arresting power.

Rogora Khart
Rogora Khart are eclectic band of vagabonds, miscreants, wanderers and rogues hailing from the depths of the Georgian winter and the Carpathian cold. A unique opportunity to see this cultural phenomenon, their anarchic gypsy swagger is as entertaining as they are befuddling.

Tickets£ 5.00 Adv available from:Diverse, Rockaway ,In Exile (Newport) Spillers (Cardiff) and wegottickets.com. Doors at 8pm and the bar is open until late.

Hot Burrito are going a bit folk. They are proud to present Irish singer songwriter Eleanor McEvoy. Eleanor is known for the song A Woman's Heart, which inspired the A Woman's Heart anthology album. In 1993 she released her self-titled album but it wasn't until the release of her fourth album, "Yola", in 2001 and her fifth, "Early Hours", in 2004 that she came to the attention of a wider audience outside of her native Ireland.

Her last album, "Out There," was released in September 2006. She toured it extensively in the UK and Europe, and in Australia where she toured for twenty-five days in the Spring of 2007.
Her most recent albums have been adopted by the hi-fi community, and are frequently used to test speakers and amplifiers. “Yola” has been described as an industry standard for SACD, winning many awards and accolades. The last album, “Out There”, was recently named Album of the Year for 2007 by Hi-Fi Plus magazine in Britain. Both "Out There" and new album "Love Must Be Tough" (for which this gig is the launch) have been released on vinyl by Diverse Records, the label run out of Newport's own Diverse Music.

Eleanor's co-writing credits have seen her published with fellow writers and performers such as Rodney Crowell, Lloyd Cole, Brad Parker, Henry Priestman, Johnny Rivers and Dave Rotheray of The Beautiful South. Caroline Lavelle's version of the McEvoy/Lavelle composition "All I Have" features in the USA television series Six Feet Under. Hopefully all this and the release of the new album will bring her a much bigger audience.

Support on the night comes from the wonderful Sarah from Halflight, performing solo. Her folk tinged indie pop has seen her grace stages across the country. If ever you needed an excuse to go to Tenby, check them out at the Tenby Folk Festival on the 23rd of August! Opening the night are Hot Burrito favourites Smokestacks playing their brand of acoustic folk.

It's a bargain £2 to get in on the night so there's no excuse not to come down and check out some cracking acts. Doors are at 8pm.

Who's idea was it? That'll be mine. And why? Its my birthday weekend, i want to get pissed, play pissed and watch bands i like, pissed.
Rotating line-up, Saturday 31st May at Clwb, Sunday 1st June at Tjs. Four chunks of very suckable ear candy. This is where I big it up with big magazine quotes etc. Nope.
Blog over and out!

The Weakerthans. One of my favourite bands in the world. This is going to be diffiicult.

Basically if you like your songs heartfelt, go see them. If you like melodic punk rock, go see them. If you like day-dreaming on trains, gazing out of the window as rain streaks against it and wondering when exactly you reached this moment in your life (no? Just me? Oops.), go see them.

The band have been around since 1997 when John K. Samson left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P. Sutton and drummer Jason Tait, and created The Weakerthans as a vehicle for a more melodic and introspective brand of songwriting than that of Propagandhi. The band's debut album, Fallow, was released in 1997 on G7 Welcoming Committee Records, and garnered positive reviews from Canadian music critics, it was followed in 2000 by Left And Leaving. The band then signed to Epitaph, traditionally a punk label, and released their third album, Reconstruction Site. Last year saw the band release their fourth and latest album Reunion Tour.

The band are now in the middle of a World tour that doesn't end until the 9th of August. Usually they pass through the UK playing the usual London date and coming nowhere near our little Principality, although not quite making the border this time, Bristol is close enough. I may've mentioned this before but go see them.

Langhorne Slim (the person) was born Sean Scolnick, he's joinned in Langhorne Slim (the band) by Paul Defiglia, Malachi DeLorenzo and they're based in Brooklyn, New York. I mention this because listening to the music it'd be easy to assume they live in some kind of mountainous backwater. They're not a band to be pigeon holed or fit into and kind of scene, i guess they're a like a less obtuse Neutral Milk Hotel.

Opening track Spinning Compass starts the album in a poppy almost Violent Femmes type way with cello, harp and accordian all finding their way into the 1 minute 54 seconds. Rebel Side Of Heaven has a tuba (at least I think it's a tuba, bass sax? Who cares, it goes umm pah a bit and sounds ace). I don't think I need to say a lot more than that.

It probably comes under the umbrella of 'americana' but only in the way that Okkervil River and Two Gallants are. There are certainly folky moments, sometimes veering into Bright Eyes territory and the odd country ballad but really, over the 13 tracks here Langhorne Slim touch upon a whole load of genres and a lot of reference points but they always sound brilliantly original. It isn't po faced nu folk or a band taking themselves too seriously either, Hello Sunshine wouldn't be entirely out of place on a Super Furry Animals record. It's dance around your bedroom music, putting on before you go to the pub music, wake you up on the way to work music. It's only the end of May but this is my album of the year so far (edging out Los Campesinos! and Tokyo Police Club fact fans).

It's in Diverse now. Buy it.

This Thursday (May 29 ) Made In Americana has a hum-dinger of a gig with Canada's Matt Andersen. If you would like to enjoy the company of one of the best guitarists in the world, then don't miss Matt's appearance. His form is Blues, but 99% of his songs are original. He will be playing solo, but this guy is so phenomenal that he will make his guitar sound like an orchestra. Matt has been gathering a reputation across the Atlantic at festivals from the east to the west coasts, and I have seen footage of shows at which the audiences are going absolutely barmy. His slide guitar work is something to behold and when this guy rocks the whole of Swansea is gonna feel a little queezy! Have a look at the press clips below and then open the attachment, wherein you will find The Evening Post write up of two weeks ago. Some of you might have already seen the article and decided to come along. But for those who haven't, then I'll just say one more time....this Thursday Made In Americana plays host to one of the world's best guitarists. Nuff said. (Support is Wales based Christopher Rees, who had his very own showcase at South By South West this year, and includes Kristen Hersh of Throwing Muses amongst his admirers.....does it get any better! )

The show is at Monkey Cafe in Swansea, doors are at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm.

£8 ( Bald Eagles £6 )

There's a proud tradition of noisy post-rock fuckers from the Midlands. Nottingham's You Slut! have been progging about for a while now, and next door neighbours You Judas seemed to have picked up on their prefix (PLAGIARISM! maybe...).

But this Derby-based band sound vastly different to the Slut's progressive song structures. If there was a middle ground between space-rock and metal then You Judas occupy it - embracing atmospherics as much as drone to great effect. Their myspace tracks sound quite delicate and even hint a bit at Slint in cinematics and the post-punk guitar-echo-trapped-in-a-box sound of Interpol, early Rapture and their ilk, but ends up being much much harsher. For a young and new band they have quite a developed and distinct sound - they could sound like a Mogwai-pastiche like many local post rock bands and they don't. In such a small venue like Le Pub, You Judas should fill the space left by all the nervous sods that won't stand infront of the band.

You Judas play with Rumney Valley/Newport droners The Death of Her Money on May 31 in Le Pub. Ticket price to be confirmed.

Labels: saesneg

Swansea's Viva Machine play Le Pub tonight, short notice I know but get your collective arses down there for some epic, groove laden Jarcrew-esque action. It's free to get in and the support bill which includes Lil Deaths is pretty sweet too, you may even see random Automatic members milling around too. The bands are regular tour buddies and share an ear for a big chorus. Last time I saw Viva Machine at Le Pub they were supporting The Automatic at the official re-opening after the stage/bar switch around, they gave out branded rice shakers for a bit of audience percussion participation. You just can't beat that.

Doors are at 8pm, Le Pub stays open until 3am for those late night/early morning minus 18 degree test tubes of Jagermeister and entry is FREE FREE FREE. That means you don't have to pay.

From Fuck Buttons, to AIDS Wolf; it's good to know there are people readily prepared to break the conventions of names-to-introduce-to-people-in-polite company. When your uncle asks you over the dinner table, with your grandmother listening in, whether you're still listening to Primal Scream, fire this lot up on your iPod and never see them again.

This band sound like the cross between a funeral cortege being fired upon with machine guns - stunned silence topping over stunned silence followed quickly by screams of grief. Like a really nasty Sonic Youth - sort of Bad Moon Rising era - where every instrument has been replaced with a Theremin and an elephant has control of the drumkit. That doesn't even begin to describe listening to this band. Formed in 2003, the band self-portraits themselves as a squid eating dough through a polythene bag. There are no rules - nothing but a passionate hatred of your ear drum.

They're in Clwb Ifor Bach on Thursday night courtesy of Pedigree Falcon - with support from Heck and King Alexander.

Labels: saesneg

The towering jumble of waiting equipment that forms the backdrop to Gindrinker’s set is a nicely ironic touch: Cardiff’s support champs get by on guitar, drum machine, cornet and ranting alone. Later, during Shit & Shine, this mass of kit will block access to the women’s toilet, slightly inconveniencing the three of them that are actually in the building. Gindrinker’s contribution to this night of maleness is their usual great blast of astringent tales about wretches and men found dead in pubs. They’re a weirdly Cardiff institution now, like the gargoyles on the castle wall.

Geisha bring the heavy, at least intermittently. They’re a strange mixture of shifting time signatures, crushing guitars and meandering digression. They can do good riff, certainly, but the best bit is during the obligatory guitars-leaning-against-amps-feedback-bit at the end, when the frontman tips water over himself while howling at the ceiling. He looks like a damp Richard Herring.

Shit & Shine look like the best band ever, in a sort of serial killer fashion parade kind of way: rabbit ears and green faces, Stetsons, rapist tracksuits, two cute drummers. Their first song is ace: seriously fucked up riffs like snakes, coasting drums, random screams. This is 50% of their set. The remaining half is taken up with a very long, slow, thudding drone number which I have chosen to call ‘Spunking Goodwill Up A Wall’. Eternal kudos to local promoter stars Lesson#1 and Forecast for continual services to brain mashing bookings, kudos of a more frustrated kind to Shit & Shine for mashing at least half my brain into an agreeable pulp.

Vivers

Jaynes apology: too much post-wedding red wine took the place of your support slot, sorry. But hey, here's some disjointed, alcohol blasted thoughts on Spencer McGarry Season: being drunk at the front suits this hot wedge of power pop; they should have a big neon sign that says 'Spunk' behind them; why is there a curtain pulled halfway across the stage?; tight, determined, playful; Jim O'Rourke cover; they should play more weddings.

Switching to water before the Wave Pictures come on might have been a mistake: they got Cardiff history and Cardiff mates who'd heft celebratory beers even if they took a shit onstage. Quite sweet that they get the pints aloft treatment, even though 90% of their songs run exactly along the 'obtuse, great lyrics over tremulous indie with a break for guitar work out' formula. For all their trad feyness, like that curtain the Wave Pictures are almost heroically awkward, and the crowd get siller and stompier as the band do. Some people should lose their shit more often.

Vivers

There’s none so happy tonight as Ethan Miller, Howlin’ Rain’s singer and guitar noodler. His band are cruising through their 28th straight boogie number, plaid shares are up, and Carter looks like getting a second term. Howlin’ Rain have a great furry Muppets look going on, simultaneously hairy and balding, but they can’t please the audience section who aren’t keen on hoary man rock, so it’s out for an alleyway break, fags in the rain and support band dissection.

Cut open the Yellow Moon Band, and they’re made of organic campfires, hippy goodness amplified and distorted. They’ve got the Buddha-like warmth of Green Man benefactors, and they’re not afraid to rock, which is good when leaning on the noise mantras, less good on a trebly, widdly tip. Zumbar were left to bring the low end fun, their caveman riff rock half Sabbath, half a succession of slow landslides. So much fun there’s always two or more band members grinning per song. Top drawer, action figures next time please.

Back inside, and trying to work out if this is the same number we left on. Or the same year.

Vivers

The first thing that hits you when listening to Times New Viking's third full length Rip It Off is the fuzz - oh god, the unrelenting fuzz. Maybe there's something wrong with your earphones, maybe your £2000 stolen-music machine has a sound chip still hasn't dried out since you dropped it in the toilet. Maybe one take just wasn't lo-fi enough, so the record was recorded and re-recorded through poor microphones and bad tape machines until the EQ-defying distortion was enough to attract stray dogs. Now that's attention to detail.

However the record was produced, Rip It Off is a rollocker. It's can be difficult to convey the energy of a band on record, but TNV get it down on tape by being louder than their poor equipment can take. Every shout and squeal is amplified enough to turn the heads of the poor old deers on the bus stop - every echo of every poorly sound-proofed vocal is there naked and left for your pleasure, like the band is really just there with you in your lounge barking with your dog. It seems a bit cliche to say there's a real youthful feel to the record, but there is - banged together in a fit of exhuberance, each member hoping and wanting to make a uncontrollable and un-navigable din for the fucking hell of it. And they do it ever so well.

Live, we're told, TNV are as insane as on CD. They play Clwb Ifor Bach on Monday, hosted by Forecast, with support from Cardiff three-piece Threatmantics. £6.50 advance, £7.50 on the door.

Labels: saesneg

Of all the decades, the 1940s must be the one yet to be raped for material by the indie scenes of the world. The 1980s, 70s, 60s and 50s have been mutilated by young thing after thing, yet I'm yet to hear a post-rock outfit inspired by Noel Coward. I ask you.....

None of this is, of course, to put a bad spin on Neath Valley boys El Goodo - a SFA-endorsed outfit who, as far as their myspace claims, are still signed to Placid Casual for hard-copy releases of their infectious 60s-inspired psychedelic acid-pop. The band have been noted for their homeages to stalwarts from the era, including Velvet Underground and the Bryds, although live they veers more on the noiser side. Their last album, released in 2005, was described by the Onion's AV club as shifting between their mid 20th century influences and a darker side - from power pop to distant fuzz and static. El Goodo twist and turn your expectations of what this kind of band should sound like, gently subverting them all.

According to a myspace post from November, El Goodo should be on the way to sorting out a second record, and are playing Newport's Le Pub with The Keys in support on Wednesday night.

Labels: saesneg

Good luck with trying to get tickets for this, but LA bliss-rockers No Age will be parking their boots in Bristol's floating voter the Thekla tonight together with Black Lips. A tonne of verbal hyperbole has already been shared about this band, so you don't need the music blog equivilant of HTV (Wales and the West!) to tell you they already rule the pants off. No Age combine lo-fi punk rock asthetics with layers and layers of ambient noise, creating songs that literally reflect the sunlight shining on the speakers. If this was electronic it would be like boards of canada in their sleepier moments, but with shouting and guitars and shit. They're like your favourite hardcore band, probably, if they adopted a new member who is entirely made of electronic noise string. And for all there lo-fi credentials their new album Nouns still sounds absolutly huge, like their only two members have swallowed super room filling powers with just their vocal chords. In short - open the fucking curtains and air the room out you stinking angst ridden spotty bastard - there's a whole world No Age want to show you and tell you its FANTASTIC.

From the other coast entirely are Black Lips, who are probably a bit quieter and psychedelic like. Self-described as "flower-punk" it says here and formed while they were teeange garden fanatics, probably, sadly they no longer urinate on stage. Their music sounds like what the Ramones would if Lou Reed was a member, and isn't half like an bouy out at sea plopping up and down in time to the seagulls. Their floaty qualities should do them good if they decide to jump out of the window and discover the last time they swam was at Centre Parks in conditioned water. They don't filter the Avon - careful boys.

No Age seem to be supporting Black Lips, but go for No Age anyway. Tickets are £9, doors at 7.30pm.

Labels: saesneg

The Ministry of Truth at Engineering Consent PR have today announced the first three bands they will be working with; the three bands are pop tarts Working Class Heroes, terrorcore rap collective Carnivores of War and punk rock heroes The Slowdance. Each band are releasing EPs in the next few months on local labels and will be appearing live across the UK throughout 2008; Engineering Consent PR will be working with them for the duration of these releases in the first instance.

Marcus Warner, Minister of Truthful Announcements at Engineering Consent PR said:

“I am delighted that not only did we have a great response from great acts across Britain who wanted to work with us, but that we have agreed to work with three great bands each with their own distinct identity. Working Class Heroes have the undervalued skill of writing amazing pop songs, Carnivores of War bring the noize like no other, and The Slowdance are a fearsome ten legged punk rock machine. To say I am delighted is an understatement. ”

Working Class Heroes will be releasing and ep in June and build on their already large following, Carnivores of War will be releasing ‘Run for your lives’ on 'Birth, music, death' in June, and The Slowdance have just released ‘Rapture and Ruin’ on Rat Patrol Records. Each band will have all their PR carried out by Engineering Consent and there is potential for these long term relationships to develop into a wider remit that purely PR.

Marcus Warner, Minister of Truthful Announcements at Engineering Consent PR said:

“Engineering Consent is continuing to look to work with bands of all shapes and sizes, and plans are afoot to make Engineering Consent a label and management company. I have very big plans for the agency, and we are providing a cheap and personal service to a part of the music industry that is being delivered by amateurs. With Engineering Consent your PR is done by professionals and with people who exist not just at the end of an email address, but also face to face. ”

To speak to Engineering Consent about any of their bands or services please get in touch:

Email- engineeringconsentpr@hotmail. com

Tel- 07515 653618

Myspace

Sleeveface is sweeping the nation. In the words of its Cardiff-based creators: "You take a sleeve. You take a face. You create SLEEVEFACE." You've seen it on the internet, now see it live!

The first Sleeveface party took place last month and saw mass-Sleevefacing, the likes of which have never been seen before, projections of impromptu sleevefaces, a whole heap of partying and dancing and even ended up with two sleeves meeting for the first time and going home together.

And now Sleeveface returns to its Cardiff roots, where the whole shebang kicked off.

Taking place on Friday 6th June at Clwb Ifor Bach, this will be a chance to experience an evening of pure Sleeveface pleasure - put record sleeves in front of your face (don’t worry, sleeves are provided!), take photos and dance to the Sleeveface DJs. Also, price includes entry to The Dudes Abide, Cardiff’s premier rock’n’roll jamboree.

For the uninitiated…

Sleeveface: one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion.

All you need to create a Sleeveface is a vinyl record sleeve and a face. Put the sleeve in front of your face, take a photo and there you have it – Sleeveface! (See picture).

Sleeveface began in Cardiff when some DJs were monkeying around with their records. They created a website – www.sleeveface.com – and started a group on a popular social networking site. Lots and lots of people from far and wide joined the phenomenon, adding their own creative, amusing photos. Interest came from all over the world – Australia, Canada, the USA, Finland and more.

Clwb Ifor Bach, Womanby Street, Cardiff
Friday 6th June 2008

Entry is £4.50/£3.50 and tickets are available on the door.

Click on image to enlarge. Last few Funeral For A Friend tickets left, be quick!

Blood Red Shoes are Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter, two punk kids from the South of England who by their own admission are "just trying to be in a decent band". They've been around a while, releasing their debut 7" back in July 2005 but a series of tours and blistering live shows over the last twelve months have brought them to the attention of a wider audience. Box Of Secrets sometimes suffers from too little variation in songs but hey, there's two of them, what you gonna do? There are a fair few grungey riffs, 'ooh, oohs' and handclaps, it's not a million miles away from when Ash came screaming onto the indie scene over a dozen years ago. There are shades of Nirvana and the Pixies, in fact when Laura-Mary takes on the backing vocals they don't sound unlike Cardiff's own Victorian English Gentlemens Club.

On record the band do lose a bit of the rawness that makes their live show so thrilling but the album still has enough tunes and enough energy to make it worth purchasing. It's ideal for sticking on the stereo and jumping around to when you're getting ready to go out on a Saturday night. Probably not what the band were aiming for exactly but this is a band that don't even like being called 'indie', it's probably hard to make them happy.

Box Of Secrets is available on CD and vinyl in Diverse Music now.

On Saturday 10th May Hot Burrito put on the wonderful Gerard Starkie, Gerard was lead singer in the fantastic band Witness. Witness released two albums to critical acclaim in 1999 and 2001 (Before The Calm and Under A Sun). They played several high profile tours with the likes of Whiskeytown, Wilco, Grand Drive, The Charlatans, Embrace, Deus and many more.

The band split in 2003 and now Gerard is back as a solo artist. He made an album of material available for free download on his Myspace site, but his first album proper will gain national release this summer. Gerard will be performing solo and playing a mixture of new material and old Witness tracks.

I'm including a review of the debut album by Witness below as it's one of my favourite albums and one of the rare occasions I agree with the NME:

The proven rock'n'roll method is to load up on arrogance, aim for a massive, public blowout, then carry on 'til they call the cops.

While many top acts have entertained us thus, all that noise and fury can get tiresome. That's why Witness are so valuable. Their music hardly rocks at all. The lyrics never try to flag up attention. Humility rules. And once you get used to this sublimated style, the smallest detail takes on a world of significance.

Witness are like a bonsai tree in a huge, sky-shagging pine forest. Surely that's one reason why they came up with the title 'Before The Calm'. It's a zen thing, man. It's also a lovely and inspiring record. Just listen to 'My Own Old Song'. It starts with a murmur and builds, ever so gently, into a story of one man's desolate quest. A piano line arcs forlornly. A xylophone plinks. By the end, Gerard Starkie is practically raising his voice. He's that upset. You might already know the single 'Scars', with its beat-up rhythm, echoing DJ Shadow (or maybe Radiohead's 'Airbag'). It's a discourse on phoney personalities and the urge to connect with another human being. The idea of 'close approximations' is rejected. The potential lover wants the whole deal.

Listen closely and the startling lines emerge. Try the survivalist code on 'Freezing Over Morning', which sings the worried man blues with tremendous power. "Sometimes I stride like royalty", the boy muses, "while other times I crawl". You shiver and move on.

You hear the spectral voices of American Music Club, early REM (especially on 'Second Life') and Joy Division. This would tend to suggest that Witness are high-grade glum-merchants. But that's not really accurate, as there's an old-fashioned reliance on compassion here. In lesser hands, 'My Friend Will See Me Through' would sound trite. Actually, it's just fine.

Bands like Travis and Puressence are on a similar, vaporous trail, but Witness are well ahead. They've made an astonishing debut album; stripped of all affectation, daring to be understated when others would be tempted to hit the anthem button. This revolution will be internalised. 9/10

Support on the night comes from Cardiff's Jimi Alexander & The Satellites who return to the Hot Burrito stage with their emotive Ryan Adams tinged songs, well worth checking them out, John Langford played their entire demo on his Chicago radio show. They'll be on at 8.30, get there early.

Tickets available from Diverse for a fiver.

Spock's Beard are a progressive rock band with pop leanings, formed in 1992 in Los Angeles by brothers Neal and Alan Morse. They draw much influence from Genesis and The Beatles and are also well known for their intricate multi-part vocal harmonies and use of counterpoint much in the vein of Gentle Giant. The name comes from a Star Trek episode where the crew enters a parallel universe in which the parallel Mr. Spock is differentiated by his beard.

This adventurous band had built a solid and loyal following through a string of records before releasing the acclaimed epic concept album, Snow, in 2002, which also marked the departure of leader and main composer Neal Morse for a solo career as a Christian artist. The new line-up, with Nick D'Virgilio vocals, has released three more studio albums: Feel Euphoria,Octane and their latest, Spock's Beard, which the critics are calling their best album yet.

This is a superb progressive rock band in the Seventies' spirit that will appeal to many people, full of concentrated climates and complex compositions based on tortuous, audacious and elaborated instrumental developments. They combine strong melodies with intricate arrangements and superb musicianship. Spock's Beard will be playing only a handful of UK dates, The Point being their only Welsh date.

Tickets for the Cardiff date are available through Spillers Records (02920