NOW IT'S ON PRESENTS: A BRIGHTER FUTURE

22nd May: WILLIAM - The Band @ The Portland Arms

The aim was to keep it simple: a power trio with good songs. They wanted to play the slow melodic, but scream and thrash with detuned guitars- nothing wrong with that sweet Sonic Youth. They wanted to be less about the theatrics and hair cuts and more about the blood sweat and tears. A variety of styles would be employed.

WILLIAM has since gone onto release two acclaimed singles on Coventry based record label Tough Love. The two singles, ‘Five Minute Wonder’ and ‘Playground’ have had a great deal of coverage from John Kennedy and Steve Harris of XFM and Zane Lowe of Radio One among other stations. They have also recorded a live session for the XFM Xposure show and are currently in the process of writing an LP of songs.

Numbering just three, they sound like an army.

24th May: Official Secrets Act @ Soul Tree

Eccentric, eloquent. As quintessentially English as The Beatles and The Clash.

They sound like a honey-trap sturm-und-drang disco hedgehog, seconds before it's squashed under the merciless wheels of the giant "rockadecker" bus, driven by Kitchener with a tear in his eye and war on his radio.

Along the way they have collected a string of glittering accolades: Steve Lamacq called them 'The most lyrically erudite band I've heard in a long while...' Marc Riley procalimed that they are 'Tighter than a duck's arse...' They have played live sessions on Radio 2 and BBC 6 music... They have had further airplay on Radio 1, Radio 2, BBC London and again 6 Music. Beth Ditto spilt wine all over their shoes halfway through their DJ set at Leeds Festival. In short they have been greeted with open arms and watery eyes wherever their musical whims have carried them.

"The War rages on and the explosions in the distance grow nearer. We shelter behind cheap guitars and wake to the shipping forecast. We are the Official Secrets Act."

26th May: Sennen @ The Portland Arms

Sennen are an outstanding 4-piece band from Norfolk with a shared love of Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub, Spacemen 3 and Big Star and combine beautiful pop melodies with vocal harmonies over a gigantic background of guitars.

Their first recording was the limited edition 7", 'Blackout,' released in October 2007 and has been championed by Zane Lowe at Radio One and John Kennedy at XFM, for whom the band have recently recorded a session.

Sennen's new album, released on 26th May, combines unabashed harmonies, with lush instrumentation and some brutal guitar pieces. Produced by fan of the band, the legendary Pat Collier (House of Love, Wonderstuff, My Life Story, Adorable), 'Where The Light Gets In' was recorded in just eight days. The result is a remarkable mix of the tunefulness of Teenage Fanclub and the maelstrom of Mogwai

"Like Mogwai if they were fronted by Simon & Garfunkel. A good thing." NME

29th May: Das Wanderlust @ The Portland Arms

Das Wanderlust are a three piece wrong-pop band who are based in (but do not originate from) Middlesbrough in the North East of England. Since they first formed three years ago the band have had a constantly shifting line-up, but always keeping the two ‘core’ members Laura Simmons and Andy Elliott – who between them write all of the songs.

Das Wanderlust just like making pop music exactly how they want to, because that’s what always sounds best, making their live shows as exciting as they are unusual as they are unique.

As Richard Davies of Artrocker Magazine puts it:
"About as far removed from the bland corporate nonsense that punters are force-fed through the nation’s airwaves as it’s possible to get. And yet, it is – in a kind of miraculous alchemical outcome – still pop. It undoubtedly is. It is innovative, off-kilter, barbed-wire-sawing-through-the-brain pop. This most musical twist-filled of bands are on their own in the world of underground pop, sounding like no others."