Weekender

IF YOU ONLY BUY ONE RECORD THIS WEEK...
Sky Larkin, then. Not just Leodensian men and woman of the world, but "used to describe something that is new but has already earned a right to be considered experienced, talented, etc. --- A NOOB THAT IS NOT A NOOB. 'that chick is totally sky larkin in the pool room.'". It's not even a rhyme with anything relevant, come on. Kaleide got our seal of approval on TLOBF, even if Any Decent Music registered it as a 6/10. Pah. The stream is still active if you want full quality reassurance. The album launch is this afternoon from 1pm at the Strongrooms in East London, with the band on from 4. Also the Harkinator, as nobody has ever called her, has an ideas blog of her own which is very much worth a glance if you were hitherto unaware of it.

SOMEWHERE TO GO
Plenty of options in London this week, because the rest of the country doesn't matter. Chief among these is the sterling work of Pic'n'mixx, who first take on Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on Tuesday with our now foremost purveyors of retro girly pop (that sounds condescending but it's the only thing we could think of that'd fit both), Lucky Soul and The School, with The Lodger opening and Pocketbooks and How Does It Feel? residents DJing. Come Saturday the Buffalo Bar welcomes a man and his million pedals, Stairs To Korea, plus unpromisingly named East Londoners Spaghetti Anywhere and renaissance man o'indie Darren Hayman DJing whatever he feels like playing. Plus the latter event holds open the famed Pic'n'mixx mix CD swap box, where you're encouraged to bring along a CDR of appropriate playlisted qualities and exchange it for someone else's, possibly that of someone semi-famous in such field. Meanwhile out in Peckham Upset The Rhythm are putting on Yes Way from 13th-15th at the Auto-Italia space, bringing along Islet, Fair Ohs, Male Bonding, Veronica Falls, Gentle Friendly, Munch Munch, Lovvers, Cold Pumas, Slowcoaches and loads of people you've never heard of unless you live in an N1 squat for art reasons.

BANDS START UP EACH AND EVERY DAY
Oxfordshire trio Dead Jerichos should on paper be the sort of band snobs like us buy bargepoles for specifically so we can refuse to touch them. They share DNA with The Jam and Arctic Monkeys, two bands we barely need more adherents of. Their singer has that sort of lad-rock accent. Their pull quotes include "Fred Perried lad garage" and "saving the new wave from shoegazing wank", a phrase that hasn't endeared anyone to a potential audience since These Animal Men. And yet Bob Harris had them play Truck at his invitation, and he knows a thing or two about music. All 17 years old, there's an intensity, an invigorating tightness, a direct ball association with stories of small town ennui and a suggested willingness to learn a way out of the landfill site that makes them quite captivating in their own way. They clearly know the Cure, Buzzcocks (hints of Magazine too) and the Skids, and have half an ear for their local scene's yen for math-dance guitars. If they can stay comfortably this side of The Enemy interesting things may well occur.

THERE'S ALWAYS A FESTIVAL SOMEWHERE
Our third weekend away of the year is next weekend, and it's not away at all as it's our home town soiree Summer Sundae. Into its tenth year of being in a smaller area than you'd imagine, this year's innovations include an actual repurposed beach. Wonderful, sand redistributed all over the place by dusk Friday. Musically it's done pretty well for itself in our insular terms. Seasick Steve, Mumford & Sons and, erm, Tinchy Stryder headline; elsewhere you've got Los Campesinos!, The Fall, Teenage Fanclub, The Wave Pictures, The Go! Team, Slow Club, Frankie & The Heartstrings, The Futureheads, Fanfarlo, Roots Manuva, Johnny Flynn, Local Natives, Steve Mason, The Invisible, Summer Camp, The Low Anthem, The Leisure Society, Dog Is Dead, Gaggle, Swimming, Red Shoe Diaries, Erland and The Carnival, Peggy Sue, Danny & The Champions of the World and the great Peter Wyeth at, ladies and gentlemen, 10am on Sunday. Get there early, beat the eager lively crowds. If you're not around for that maybe pop by LeeFest in Bromley, a one dayer on Saturday that started in someone's back garden in 2007 and is now in a proper field, which is how it counts as a festival and Yes Way doesn't by our rules, with proper bands: Johnny Foreigner, the Futureheads, Hot Club de Paris, Does It Offend You Yeah? and King Charles are all around.

WHAT ELSE?
Another idea from the restless creative hub of 4 Or 5 Magicians' Dan Ormsby. Following last year's tribute to Our Band Could Be Your Life, this year's themed all-dayer celebrates the 1992 Reading festival of Nirvana infamy. It's at the Brixton Windmill on August Bank Holiday Saturday, the 28th, and the headline act will be Ormsby and co as Nirvana, but with vocals supplied by twenty different people. Some will be minor indie celebrities (we know Laura Internet Forever will be one), the rest will come from the willing. If you can be there, can sing a bit, know a song from this setlist and have the aptitude to get up on stage, contact the band at fourorfivemagicians[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk with your Kurt reasoning and song preferences.