Live music in Liverpool this week: 15-21 Feb

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... 

Thu 16 Feb

Exmouth's charmingly-named Big Fat Astronauts drop in to play a set of what they call both 'post-punk' and 'doom-funk', all chunky riffs, stop-start rhythms and wryly detached vocals. Fans of We Are Scientists won't go home disappointed, we'd venture to suggest – promising beginnings. Hollows and School Dicsco support.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7pm, £3

Fri 17 Feb

With fourth album Worhead still fresh off the presses, Little Comets' sense of purpose feels audibly renewed. Latest single Common Things incorporates more electronic sounds into their exuberant indie racket, lending a certain nervous tension to their material – will it translate to their live show? Find out tonight.
O2 Academy, 7pm, £14

Difficult to know what to make of this Busted comeback. Yeah, yeah, fake punk and all that; music for tweens... kudos to you, Serious Music Fan, for your informed dismissal. But perhaps it's those sort of jibes that have pushed the band into a rethink: last year's comeback album Night Driver looks towards a more mature, electro-polished sound that kinda... well, misses the point of Busted. But y'know, they'll probably play Year 3000, so that's ok.
Guild of Students, 7pm, £29.50

20 years into his career, Anacortes' Karl Blau visits Leaf with his star finally on the rise. "In spite of Karl’s prolific catalog," comments Tucker Martine, producer of latest album Introducing Karl Blau, "I still feel that not nearly enough people have had the opportunity to hear this man." A dizzyingly ecelectic take on American folk and country traditions, Introducing... should change all that, with the veteran's uniquely sensitive voice deservedly in the spotlight.
Leaf, 8pm, £9

"I will play anywhere to anybody," claims acoustic emo songwriter Luke Rainsford. "Let me play your house." If folksy lamentations that kinda recall a softer, slower Saves The Day are your bag, then you might want to take him up on that offer, although you could just catch him at Maguire's with backing band Crater Face instead. Much easier.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7pm, £5

Sat 18 Feb

Liverpool R'n'B five-piece Mic Lowry know what they're doing, alright. Having racked up over 42,000,000 (that's FORTY-TWO MILLION) plays of their Phil Collins-referencing single Oh Lord on Spotify before nipping off to the US to record their debut album, they've only gone and announced a huge tour of the US and Europe to boot. With plenty to celebrate, this hometown show should be something very special indeed.
O2 Academy, 7pm, £16.50

"A limited capacity dance party with a live hardware line-up!" That's how HomeOfTheBrave's promoters describe their seven-hour event at Drop the Dumbulls, with performing artists UKAEA and JC also launching their recent releases for the brand new Pale Master cassette series. Recsund, Jacques×Isocore, BigEff and Um round out a must-attend show for fans of forward-thinking, mind-melting electronic music.
Drop the Dumbulls, 9pm, £5

A night of largely homegrown pop-punk sees Red Winter, Meet the Robots and Burn the Yearbook welcome Bath-based quartet Montroze to town for an evening of fizzy melody, gleeful nods to the Descendents and the odd mosh part here and there. Like the 90s never ended... or the part of the 90s that wound up on the Mallrats soundtrack, anyway. More info here.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7.30pm, £4

Sun 19 Feb

Country/folk duo Worry Dolls recently released their debut album Go Get Gone to rave reviews, and it's not difficult to see why. Anyone attuned to the immaculate harmonies of First Aid Kit or even The Be Good Tanyas will likely find themselves drawn to the London duo of Zoe Nicol and Rosie Jones – they surely won't be playing venues of such intimacy for much longer.
Zanzibar, 6.30pm, £7

Another night of pop-punk in everyone's favourite pizza spot sees Stourport's You Know The Drill stopping by in support of their debut EP Losing Streak. Cardiff's Junior are also along for the ride, while Meet The Robots deliver a second set in two days to Maguire's, and St Helens' Last Reserves open things up.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7pm, £4 adv/£5 otd