Our friends at Spoonfed are putting on their second showcase at the Shacklewell Arms on September 5th with Portland’s BLOOD BEACH as headliners.

Also on the bill are Melvins-devotees OLD FOREST and spooky garage rockers CHARLES HOWL, or the artist formerly known as Jerry Tropicano.

Entry £4. More info here.

BEST FRIENDS will be headlining a show for our friends at Diverge on August 3rd at Power Lunches in Hackney.

Joining the Sheffield based garage pop band are CHARLES HOWL (Formerly Jerry Tropicano) YUCKY SLIME  and THEE MVPS.

Adv tickets are only £3. Grab them here. For more info head to the Facebook page.

Tonight, BEST FRIENDS,  THE BLACK TAMBOURINES and JERRY TROPICANO will play at the Sailor Jerry’s Hotel Street venue as part of a takeover show from our good friends at Diverge.

First 50 people through the door get a free drink and alongside the live acts LET’S WRESTLE will be DJing.

£3 adv – Click here for tickets and more info.

Their impressive Chica EP which sold out on Art Is Hard Records is now mainly available at their live shows. Check it out below.

Catch them play the French Kissing single launch party at The Waiting Room (formerly The Drop) alongside Jerry Tropicano and French Kissing tomorrow.

Tonight, JERRY TROPICANO marks the release of his debut EP 1. with a show at The Old Blue Last.

With high praise from BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley, tonight’s gig comes highly recommended.

Jerry’s brand of tropical lo-fi jams comes with support from London favourites HUMAN HAIR – who will be playing a special one off set of covers – and SLAVES, who play “stripped down Crass-meets-Cramps style punk”.

Listen to Slap Back Fields from 1. below.

Indie pop and rock ‘n’ roll were on the bill at The Green Door Store on Tuesday night as Milk Maid played with support from Jerry Tropicano.

Unfortunately, the gig didn’t get off to the best start with Sexbeat dropping out, and a couple of housekeeping issues with Jerry Tropicano’s band.

The band’s performance was initially a bit rough around the edges; there was a broken string and a few awkward pauses. The slightly disgruntled audience shuffled their feet as the drummer wobbled on a dodgy stool and the bassist-cum-Korgist channelled some vaguely enjoyable spacey sounds from the Korg. (Then again band that works a Korg well always gets a tick in my book, and they did redeem themselves.)

However, Jerry Tropicano and his band took the call of ‘Come on’ from an audience member on the chin and the brief mishaps in their stride. After chuckling a bit, and Jerry asking the drummer ‘Remember this one?’ the band pulled together to produce a clashy, crashy set with good rhythms and quirky riffs that worked well to showcase their originality.

The varied set included some impressively tight drumming to which buzzy layers of Korg were added as a suitable platform for the velvety tone of Jerry’s lovely vocal. Playing around with zany distorted sound, Jerry sprung some anthemy sounds from his guitar and the whole ensemble managed to ‘do’ noisy, while still demonstrating melody and zest when blasting at their loudest.

The highlight of the set was ‘Brian’ the final song played. They were extra tight on this one and it was a good way to end

Next up were Manchester’s Milk Maid, fresh from gigs in Wakefield and Cardiff and ready to take on Brighton.

This band has played with names such as Male Bonding and Mazes, both bands that are amazing live, so their performance was highly anticipated.

The well-oiled set was full of new songs with the lead singer announcing at the end, ‘We’ve got CDs for sale. Most of the songs we played aren’t on our CD.’ Well, great that they’re producing lots of fresh music, as well as being honest!

This band’s true talent was the ability to spawn feisty instrumental while maintaining super-cool poise, especially the bassist who stood tall, off-centre stage, occasionally bending to the passionately frantic fusion of guitars.

The lead singer, with his trademark look, had a slight Gallagher-esque rich ingredient to his vocal and if that puts you off, remember how many records that voice sold. Although he stated at one point, ‘This guitar’s just taken a massive shit, hang on,’ it must have been a lovely shit as it was in reference to a dazzling Harmony Rocket.

The four committed musicians showed that there were many strings to their bow as the set included a couple of slower songs as well as those more fast-paced (with a bit of maraca action.)

Included in the new repertoire* was ‘Bad Luck’ which included stylish instrumental interludes tightly played. Another new song ‘Stir So Slow’ started with slower vocals building up to a enjoyably consuming climax of guitars. Also particularly notable was ‘Summertime’ which blasted into the mix highlighting their trademark drum-bashing crescendo. Finishing on a high with ‘Not me,’ the band proved they are well set to play the rest of their tour dates, including a gig at The Old Blue Last in London tonight.

*NB: I’ve been informed that the new song names may be subject to change