Live music in Liverpool this week: 10-17 Aug

We dive into the listings to bring you the essential guide to gigs in Liverpool this week – plus the latest news on festivals, tour announcements and more. Think we've missed something? Hit up will@theskinny.co.uk with the details... 

Wed 10 Aug

Something pacy to start things off: Wolverhampton's melodic hardcore faves Layover bring their high-paced racket to Maguire's, on tour with the similarly-minded Coast to Coast, whose Dwell EP drew comparisons to Lower Than Atlantis. Youthfully slick riff machines Please Head North, local axe-wielders Pine, and groovadelic rockers Pale Horse round out the bill.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7pm, £4

Thu 11 Aug

A double dose of punk hits town on Thursday: Glasgow's Kimberley Steaks drop in for a blast through their hook-drenched, Lookout! Records-styled pop-punk, with London-based bubblegum noiseniks Werecats hot in pursuit. The whole evening's hosted by local Off With Their Heads acolytes Pardon Us, who are very ace indeed, and there's even space for a debut show by newbies Stadt Skulls. DIY and fun as fuck.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 8pm, £4

On a very different tangent are New York's Show Me The Body: a hardcore band of sorts, albeit with vast chunks of skronk, hip-hop and electronica thrown in. They've been compared to the Minutemen, PiL and the Beastie Boys, and with good cause: this is an inventive, furious and vibrant take on familiar sounds, with more than enough ideas to keep your attention span on track. Local garage snarksters Queen Zee & The Sasstones and math-centric alt poppers SPQR provide able support.
Magnet, 7.30pm, £8

Fri 12 Aug

Following in the footsteps of their Stockport brethren Blossoms, Kashmere head to the Buyers Club with their anthemic indie ready to blow minds. In fact, Blow Your Mind is the title of their debut single (what are the odds...?), and a single listen is all it takes to deduce that they've set their sights on something very ambitious indeed. They're accompanied by blissed-out psych jams from DUSST, and the bluesy minimalism of Mad Alice; smartly reminiscent of both PJ Harvey and early Kills.
Buyers Club, 7.30, £5

Sat 13 Aug

GET THE FUCK UP! No, not our words (it's cool, we're still pals!) but those of Queens' own potty-mouthed rap veteran Pharoahe Monch. He makes a welcome return visit following his triumph at the much-missed Kazimier, and 24 Kitchen Street provides the perfect backdrop for his free-flowing rhymes and singular delivery. Still on the road following 2014's PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder LP, this promises to be a real treat for hip-hop afficionados. 
24 Kitchen Street, 7.30, £14.50

That's in direct competition with lesser-spotted prog monsters The Laze, whose sax-splattered explorations remain one of the most thrilingly oddball nights out you can experience in the Northwest. They're backed up by the spacier, doomier Drought; off-kilter jazz-inflected surrealism courtesy of Unstoppable Sweeties Show; and the cut-up/acoustic noodlings of Unicursal – pretty damn good, and that's before you even take in the mere fiver they're asking for on the door.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7pm, £5

Sun 14 Aug

To complete a packed week at Maguire's, there's a vist from Vince James Band hosted by local promoters The Defect Tor. Epic stargazing from Eyre Llew, intricately arranged pop from Sheffield's Katie Pham & The Moonbathers and frenetic post-punk from A Standard Model are also on offer, which you'll naturally want to catch in full.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7pm, £TBC

Mon 15 Aug

Damiano Ferrari, aka Damien McFly heads along to the Arts Club loft to round out another busy week; an accomplished Italian folk-rocker whose debut album Parallel Mirrors was released last year. He's been mentioned (albeit quietly thus far) in the same breath as Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers; we'll leave it to your conscience as to whether that's reason enough for boozey celebration or simply to head to the show with a boxful of rotten veg. Oh, be nice.
Leaf, 8pm, free

Now booking

Peering out through a haze of reverb, Nottingham's Field Studies bring the noise to The Shipping Forecast on 15 October. A band on the up in an intimate space: recipe for success? Book tickets here and find out.

There's also a chance to watch woefully-named but hotly-tipped Cabbage at The Magnet on 4 November. The wry indie outfit might remind older/indier readers of I, Ludicrous in their rambunctious silliness, although there's a more populist bent to their sound that's raucous and fun. See for yourself: pick up tickets here.

Continuing their fine promoting work, the Harvest Sun gang bring neo-psych heroes Psychic Ills to The Magnet on 29 Nov. Following their sterling recent album Inner Journey Out for Sacred Bones, this is a chance to watch a great band at the top of their game. Get tickets here.