Our Mutual Friend at Regtown!

James Allen reflects on the everyday - pottering around the kitchen, sitting in front of the telly watching game shows and going to the park. Within the normal he finds an inimitable beauty, anxiety and tenderness. His music lives in the moments that are known to all, but mostly remain impossible to express. FFO: Lambchop, Richard Dawson, Bill Callahan.

Pict are Nottingham's fastest rising young indie act blending atmospheric guitars, modern pop textures and emotionally honest songwriting into immersive 'post-folk'. Great instrumentation and layered harmonies seal with deal, along with a boisterous live set. Check out their awesome singles recorded at The Grove <3.

Solo project of Liverpool indie dreamboat heartthrob Liam Brown (fka pizzagirl). Every two blinks gig I've ever seen has been a thing of beauty. I love his crunchy distorted, but somehow clean guitar sound, as he plays intricate but super catchy country inspired progressions. His band consists of Guitar, Bass, Violin, and Drums.

A fledgling, freshly minted group that worship at the altar of shimmering rickenbackers and drummers who stand up when they play. Jamie has tunes to boot, powered by a love of Sarah Records (only the good bands…), Todd Rundgren, The Wedding Present and music with melody and sensitivity in equal measures. Pure guitar pop from a very exciting young band.

Dermot Henry is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter whose music blends storytelling with insightful emotion and wit. He spent a year living in Paris, where he performed regularly at a local bar and busked at spots across the city. Dermot's songs are inspired by anything from his personal friendships and relationships, to art, culture, history and films.

This Leeds 5-piece creates a whirlwind of chaotic sound that defies genre; blistering guitars and ripping saxophone that is simultaneously at odds with and a perfect compliment to the moments of quiet introspection, with raw and personal lyrics creating a true rollercoaster of a set. With two singles under their belt, the band have built a great presence in Leeds, London, and Brighton.

Formerly Broken Twin, Majke Voss has begun her solo project, using distorted piano, strings, bass and beats to propel her voice into the wispy cosmos. Her most recent single 'Coming Down' is a mature reflection on past emotions and is in its essence about staying grounded and moving forward, resulting in a meditative, dreamy, and cinematic sound.

The boy wonder, everything is an instrument to Troutflies. The 19 year old York based Reuben Pugh has been pumping out incredible lofi albums with producer and multi-instrumentalist Guy Godiva. His debut album The Dancing Years has all of us hypnotised with its wonky rhythms and crazy instrumentation - with beautiful songwriting sitting at its core.

Meeting at the junction between 90's triphop and alt-rock, Jonique tells tales about identity and belonging through her music. Inspired by Bjork, Jeff Buckley and Adrienne Lenker, Jonique delivers her story through raw yet pensive performances.

Known around London as a must-see live band, Tooth's unique alternative-grunge sound combines fuzzy guitars riffs with tight yet powerful drums and heartfelt, emo-adjacent vocals. The resulting blend creates a driving, catchy and heavy live set that will be bouncing round your head all night.

Cyclist is the outsider-pop project of Leeds DIY legend and king Ben Parry usually shared via mysterious google drive link. Influenced by the punk minimalism of makeout videotape, lewsberg, and the clean, cyclist aims to explore a saturated hum in a stereo buzz, spring reverb, cassette tape and beyond. Cyclist yearns for a return to comfort.

Pioneers of the country-gaze come jangle pop genre, this Leeds based group brings beautiful lyricism to occasionally tongue-in-cheek subject matter with delicate melodies and textures that transport you to a still night out on that wild open prairie. FFO: Songs: Ohia, Sarah Records, C86.

Cornish troubadour answer to Talk Talk's Mark Hollis, Stanley Welch is making some of the UK's most beguiling alternative music. Baroque folk, chamber and ambient swirl into something ethereal and otherworldly, perhaps a pick up from his time studying at Slade School of Fine Art. Now a luminary of the Glasgow scene, performing with his sprawling 7-piece band, this is music for those who like Deerhoof, "Blue" Gene Tyranny and John Cale.

Half Leeds/Half Manchester, Clive combine emo, math rock and post-punk. The group have been ping-ponging across England, recently paying the windmill their first visit. Noisy, slightly abrasive, emotional.

Cariad's band lays a bed of warm instrumentals ranging from the world of art rock to that of indie folk, upon which Cariad's honest and captivating lyricisms float, creating an enthralling and unique sound. Neve is also a painter, and her works intertwine with her music.

Sparkling emo guitars collide into massive scream-along choruses that seem specific and all encompassing. Their kinetic songwriting has put them in the heart of an old world of guitar music where zines, pins, and angst inform everything (but not all at once) . FFO: Guided By Voices, Mineral, Archers of Loaf

BUFFEE, a.k.a. Beth McDermott, originally had more straight-up pop ambitions. "But I didn't know how to, so it came out really weird," she says. "What I do is pretty janky, and my mixing is diabolical, but that's a big essence of the sound - I'm not sticking to a production rule book."

Over time, her listening habits grew harder – gabba, hyperpop, hardcore – and began to seep into her music. You can hear this pummelling yet melodic concoction on her 2024 release, EP 2, but she's already moving away from that. "Now I'm making dubstep," she says. "I'm still singing, but it's really bass-heavy stuff; I'm very into UK dance music that sounds like grime and 140 [bpm] – that kind of early 2000s laptop sound." She, too, is an advocate for the intensity and tactility of live electronic music. "There's a lot of laptoppers at the club doing 'live' sets, but all of us," she says, waving around the room, "are actually performing live. There's not so much of that going on right now."

Read more on Crack Magazine →

Closing out the night we have best friend and forever partner DJ Subaru. <3

DJ Subaru is rightfully known as a stalwart of the thriving underground dance scene in Leeds with a residency position at Lovemuscle, one of the institutions of Queer clubbing in the north of England as well as standing at the helm of her own party, Pleaseuremaxxx, the forward-thinking Queer dance gathering that takes place at the legendary Hope House Gallery.

DJ Subaru also pushes boundaries on the intersection between live band culture and the dance world. Through her production work with Bathing Suits, and Kiosk, she has become known as a legend to all scenes in Leeds. We couldn't have anyone better to see us through into the small hours.