The sunny and slick Grudle Bay – who dropped the ‘Riots’ from the end of their name some time ago – launch their new EP ‘Zoo Papa’ with a gig at The Cellar in Oxford on Friday 27 July. They’ll be supported by Jonathan Krisp, who has previously played gigs with Arcade Fire and Amy Winehouse, and Duchess. Oxford’s singer-songwriter Jess Hall will be joining Grudle Bay for a cover of ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps’. Copies of the new EP will be available to buy at the gig.
If you’re inspired to check out Bethany Weimers after reading our glowing review of her debut album, get yourself down to the Wheatsheaf in Oxford on Saturday 28 July, as she’ll be playing this month’s Gappy Tooth Industries gig, along with the psychedelic drone rock of Oxford’s Sonic Rising and the ‘effervescent London indie’ of Turnpike Glow.
It’s festival frenzy over the weekend of Saturday 28 July and Sunday 29 July: there are three of them to choose from! On both days, there’s the fantastic – and free – Riverside Festival at Charlbury, with a line-up that includes much of the best of the Oxford music scene such as Smilex, Listing Ships, Alphabet Backwards and The Cellar Family. On the Saturday, if you’re not Riverside-ing you could head off to leafy Drayton, where the Red Lion pub hosts D Fest 3, a day of music curated by members of the recently-ended Dead Jerichos, including The Dreaming Spires, The Graceful Slicks, King Of Cats and (once again) Alphabet Backwards. If you’re not up for either Riverside or D Fest, and are in a more noisy and aggressive frame of mind, try the brilliantly-named Brutal Punishment Fest 2012, which will provide the opportunity to spend the day inside the Bullingdon in Oxford, checking out heavy/metal bands with names like Basement Torture Killings and Today The Sun Dies. (We don’t think that bouncy indie-poppers Alphabet Backwards are playing Brutal Punishment Fest, but we’ll let you know if that changes…)
On Friday 3 August there’s the latest ‘Yard Session’, a carefully-selected line-up of music performed in the rarified space of Modern Art Oxford. Two of our favourite bands in Oxford right now – Kill Murray and The Cellar Family – are joined by The Voyeurist and Pavlov’s Children, who both offer different brands of electronic experimentation. Just to mix things up further, shouty indie kids Secret Rivals will be along to provide a DJ set as well. Art! Music! Art and music!
There’s a great line-up planned for a gig in the sweaty, ramshackle environs of the Port Mahon in Oxford on Saturday 4 August. London’s Mayors Of Miyazaki, who can be quite accurately described as ‘puzzle rock’ – complex yet powerful weirdo noise – are supported by two Oxford bands in the form of Traps (chaotic indie rock) and Masiro (chunky, confusing thug-rock from a super-tight two piece). What’s more, it’s only £3 to get in!