Live music listings: July 2007

Doors 7.30
£5 via WeGotTickets | £6 door

"The Monroe Transfer may have seemingly come out of nowhere, but with their debut release have crafted a post-rock classic that sets them among the ranks of the best in the genre...There's an epic quality here...this is something very special indeed" [Boomkat]

"At their most beautiful, are able to lightly brush the places that so few other instrumental acts can. It's exciting when a band that features not a single singer is able to take you away to someplace other than the here and now on fabulous waves of orchestral sound. The Monroe Transfer, at their most beautiful, are that band." [Drowned in Sound]

"Listening to the Monroe Transfer is like falling down Alice's rabbit hole - there's no telling where the music will lead" [BBC OneMusic]

Musically you could say that main support - Her Name is Calla - is somewhere between the vast historical landscapes of iLiKETRAiNS and the organic simplicity of Shady Bard, yet all the time there is an overtly sinister edge that suggests something life-changing is about to take control at any second. Almost like the incidental music to a short narrative about one man's struggle and ultimate failure for survival, in fact. Whatever the inspiration for this, it sure as hell makes listening to straightforward three-minute trad-pop songs impossible afterwards, and simply begs the question: why can't all artists be as ambitiously prophetic as this? [Drowned in Sound]

"Her Name Is Calla are doing something 99% more interesting than a lot of bands out there. Their sound is meticulous. Every chord is perfectly taut, every vocal howled like it was their last." [Sandman Magazine]

Opening the evening are Blanket, sporting sumptuous beards and supporting brilliant songs, the sharp suited Brighton boys add gem-like multi-instrumentation to the sultriest female vocal performance since JFK's birthday bash. One of those bands who subtly grab you with delicate, intricate songs.

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