Gig Previews: July 2010

TENDER TRAP The Hope Sat 3rd
Da Doo Ron Ron’s live music strand strikes it lucky this month, with a super-rare Brighton show from Tender Trap. Fronted by cutie icon Amelia Fletcher, with long-time cohort Rob Pursey in tow, Tender Trap are continuing their politicised indie pop lineage (Tallulah Gosh, Heavenly, Marine Research) at a more polished, more measured pace these days. With strong Brighton links (Heavenly helped bring Huggy Bear to public notice back in the day), this’ll be packed with the city’s scene veterans. (DL)

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT Brighton Centre Sun 4th
Can any of us really imagine what a traditional Wainwright Christmas must have been like? Father Loudon hammering out a tune on guitar, mother Kate McGarrigle attacking her accordion, while their children play eight different instruments each and wail over the top, like a precocious, duelling showband take on ‘Sister Ray’-era Velvet Underground. McGarrigle’s untimely death earlier this year put paid to a repeat of such festivities but her children are sure to pay tribute in their own inimitable ways this month. (BG) (See also Martha Wainwright, Thurs 15th)

THE NATIONAL Dome Fri 9th
The last time The National were in town, the Komedia had to install a new roof after it was torn off amid the tornado whipped up by their graceful desecration of the American Dream. Was it even sold out? Well, look at them now. Springsteen’s a fan and an invitation to play Barack Obama’s birthday party in the White House probably awaits. Deserved success for that rare thing: a band who actually mean something. Serve me the sky with a big slice of lemon. (BG)

SIMPLY RED Brighton Centre Sat 10th
‘A New Flame’, ‘Holding Back The Years’, ‘It’s Only Love’, ‘Something Got Me Started’, ‘Stars’, ‘Money’s Too Tight To Mention’ and ‘Fairground’. What’s the connection? That’s right, they are all masterpieces and anyone who doubts Mick Hucknall and co’s genius is invited to have it out with SOURCE editor and self-confessed 80s fanatic James Kendall, who walked down the aisle to a two-minute megamix of these songs just last summer. Please send fight invitations to the usual address. (BG)

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT Dome Thurs 15th
Martha Wainwright has progressed from singing backing vocals for her brother Rufus, to become a credible solo performer in her own right. Tonight the singer songwriter will perform songs by Edith Paif as she attempts to recreate the magic of last years live recording in the Dixon Palace Theatre, New York. Expect to be enchanted as she lends her powerfully beautiful voice to the French legends less well-known songs. Not one for the philistines. (DCh)

SPEAR OF DESTINY Prince Albert Sat 17th
Viewers of the recent Boy George BBC biopic may have been alarmed to see a side of Kirk Brandon they hadn’t known about, namely snogging it up big-style with the gender-bending protagonist. But Kirk is justifiably better known as one of early alt.rock’s true vocal pioneers, with Theatre Of Hate and Spear Of Destiny emblazoning the back of many a leather jacket in the early 80s. ‘One Eyed Jacks’ was a great album and is sure to feature heavily tonight – if you’re lucky you might well get some Theatre Of Hate thrown in for good measure too. (NC)

TORO Y MOI Freebutt Sun 18th
Following his sparkling 2009 EP we finally got the debut full length, Causers Of This, at the beginning of 2010. This pioneering artist from South Carolina is at the forefront of a genre called chillwave, alongside the likes of Million Young, Washed Out and Wild Nothing. This predominantly East Coast movement sounds as though it should belong more to the West, with its sun-bleached feel. Nobody shows off its signature aesthetic, of heavily processed, distorted synths and misted melodies, better than this solo artist. (TR)

WILD NOTHING Freebutt Sat 24th
The talented solo artist, Jack Tatum, arrives in the UK as part of a European tour in support of his recently released debut album, Gemini. It’s a vast, expansive piece of work that sounds like The Smiths echoing out of a cave. Melancholy lyrics of pessimism drift over beautiful, cacophonous melodies, causing further comparison with Morrissey. Like his genre-mates, Toro Y Moi, or The Drums, this is ultimately rewarding music that’s just as lifting as it is downbeat. (TR)

MJ HIBBETT’S DINOSAUR PLANET Prince Albert Weds 28th
In which national treasure MJ Hibbett takes time out from penning funny, literate punk pop nuggets for his Artists Against Success empire (although even Hibbett must have lost track of quite how far his celebrated ‘Hey Hey 16K’ ZX Spectrum salute has travelled by now), to create an entirely new rock opera. About dinosaurs. Yes, just like in Doctor Who the other week (possibly), the reptiles are back to take over the world! Nb: actual dinosaurs not included. Probably. (DL)

PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART Concorde 2 Weds 28th
While it’s difficult to imagine a more pretentious band name (it’s the title of an unpublished children's story), thankfully their music is not quite so worthy or self-indulgent and there is evidence of a much stronger British influence than with most of their New York contemporaries. The Pains bring their melodic fuzzy pop back to Brighton for the first time since they rocked the Great Escape last year. Perfect for summer. (DCh)

CHAKA DEMUS AND PLIERS Concorde 2 Fri 30th
Dig out your brightly coloured tracksuits as the Jamaican reggae duo are performing in Brighton as part of a small European tour. All right, they’ve not been popular since the early 90s and were absent for over 10 years before a recent comeback (of sorts), but there’s no better time for listening to chart-friendly reggae through a haze of nostalgia than when the sun is shining. (DCh)

PANTHA DU PRINCE Audio Fri 30th
If there’s one thing Rough Trade understands, it’s that creaking British institution we grew up on called ‘indie’. Now rightly viewed as an anachronism, the exulted label must look towards previously unexplored territories in a bid to avoid extinction of its own. Enter Hendrick Weber, aka Pantha du Prince, whose acclaimed latest record, ‘Black Noise’, features Animal Collective main-brain Noah Lennox and echoes Carl Craig in its lush minimal electronica, pointing towards a brave new future for all concerned. (BG)

YEASAYER Concorde 2 Mon 12th
“We wanted to sonically challenge Rihanna in the clubs,” said Yeasayer singer Chris Keating, boldly, of the Brooklyn art rock act’s latest album, ‘Odd Blood’. While it would be fair to say there isn’t an ‘Umbrella’ moment on the ‘All Hour Cymbals’ follow-up, the group have certainly embraced pop with more purpose. “We wanted you to feel the bass in your balls,” continues Keating, a theory SOURCE will test tonight by approaching the speaker stack naked from the waist down. No photographs, ladies and gentlemen. (BG)

PET SHOP BOYS Brighton Centre Mon 19
Tennant and Lowe’s coronation at 2009’s BRIT Awards, where they took the Outstanding Contribution prize, was just rewards for a pop career to rival any witnessed in the UK over the last 25 years. Elder statesmen they may be but a guest collaboration with Lady Gaga at the London bash suggested they are resolutely in touch with now, a fact reinforced by the accompanying world tour, which fused art, technology, performance and some cracking new songs into a fully realised, futuristic whole. (BG)

WORDS BY DAN CHATFIELD, NICK COQUET, BEN GILBERT, ROSS HOGBEN, DAVID LETTS, THE RECOMMENDER, TOM SPOONER