In the middle of the afternoon, a calm will fall across Rough Trade. Some beautiful and cultured songs will be the only noise. Don’t expect a pit in front of the stage but do expect pencil to be absolute class. That’s what we witnessed at Ritual Union in 2024, definitely one of the stand out bands that day. Our favourite tune is last years ‘The Window’ but there’s a new EP ‘Bohemian Clutter’ that sounds good too – check ‘Sparkling Water’. Its Rough Trade at 430pm.
Holly Head picked up some radio airplay with 2024 single ‘No Gain’. An explosive blast of barely controlled and uncompromised post punk. The follow up ‘Whatever Drags You Through It’ is a bit swifter with some sharp guitar. We really like the sound of this band; we expect them to be good and worth making The Island at 530pm.
There are so many different sounding songs that Mould (main picture) have released. The only consistent thing is they all sound huge – it’s a big sound. Our personal favourite is the fantastic ‘Snails’ but check out ‘Frances’ and ‘Cables’ as well. For fans of loud and driven three piece guitar bands, but don’t expect long songs. Be prepared to jump in the Lanes at 945pm. That sounds like a great idea!
Plenty of Snooper back catalogue to explore. All good as well! We’ve never seen them play before and this feels like a good opportunity to correct that mistake. Our favourite track is last years ‘Relay’. A frenetic discordant explosion whereas latest single ‘Crash Out’ is a more rhythmic pulsing dancey slice of magic. So clearly a band that can do anything. Let’s find out at 915pm in the Fleece.
This is punk, punk, punk. That’s what to expect from Twenty One Children. We are imagining a circle pit, crowdsurfing and feet at head level. Sounds like a good way to spend half an hour to us. Check out 2024 single ‘You Suck’, or our personal favourite ‘Ice Cube’. Played fast, loud and unrelenting. They describe themselves as ‘boisterous’ and no reason to disagree. They are playing The Island at 630pm.
There’s isn’t much else for One Big House to write about Fat Dog (pictured). From when we saw for the first time at End of the Road Festival in 2023 we knew they had it all. They were new to almost everyone in that big tent on that afternoon and they bossed it. Seems like they’ve been on a constant touring schedule since so we hope they are reaping the rewards. It’ll be busy, so good luck getting into the Academy. The fun starts at 10pm.
Read Part 1 of our lookahead here
One Big House 