Live music in Liverpool this week: 17-23 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 17 Aug

New Zealand roots reggae outfit Katchafire head to the Arts Club as part of their Burn It Down Tour, which handily takes its name from the band's latest video. It's three years since the hard-working octet's last full-length release (the Best So Far compilation) and the hot tip is that they've been readying new material for some time now – best head down on the off chance they'll give you a sneak preview.
Arts Club, 7pm, £18.50

At the other end of the scale, there's some brutally brilliant grindcore on offer at Maguire's: Kuala Lumpur's super-gnarly Tools of the Trade deliver a swift but powerful series of punches to your everythings via a thrilling racket that's chock-fulla top notch riffs'n'blastbeats. If you think you can withstand the synaptic shock, there's support from tourmates and Edinburgh powerviolence types Endless Swarm, everyone's favourite local grind merchants Horsebastard, Bedford's own sonic pummellers Brainshit and some opening speedcore courtesy of Project Mess. Heavy as fuck, and exhilarating with it.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 7pm, £5

Thu 18 Aug

If all that metally noise is a bit much for your eardrums, a night of relatively chilled and strongly crafted songsmithery is on hand to soothe your frazzled nerves. The Shipbuilders draw from a similar well to The Coral's nascent, sea shanty-indebted fare, albeit with a more delicate approach to melody and much less time spent listening to Captain Beefheart's Safe As Milk. Support comes from Nick Ellis, whose moody folk is best illustrated on this year's EP Grace and Danger, and super-catchy, snazzy-shirted indie mob Youth Hostel.
Buyers Club, 8.30pm, £4

Fri 19 Aug

It's an intriguing move to build an empire on chilli and DIY gigs, but the guys at Howl At The Moon certainly know what they're doing. This time out they're hosting antifolk's premier mover and shaker, the redoutable Jeffrey Lewis and his current backing band Los Bolts, who's probably drawing a comic or writing an excellent and incredibly wordy song about HATM's hot sauce right now. The hip-shaking, sassy garage sounds of Big Safari and Carl Moorcroft's delicious blend of folk-punk are on hand to round out the bill.
Buyers Club, 7.30pm, £8 tickets, £10 OTD

Jeffrey Lewis, photo: David Mcgowan

Are Bad Mood the hardest working band in Liverpool right now? Seems a week barely goes by without us mentioning their self-described 'socialist puke-punk', and they top Deadlowbuddydemand's bill at The Magnet this Friday. Also playing: hard-riffing Manchester pop-punkers Silver Story, pigeonhole-avoiding fellow Mancunians The Madding Crowd, new Scouse supergroup Snakes Everywhere and the unlikely ska/grunge crossover of Tiorico. Not a bad way to start the weekend at all.
Magnet, 7pm, £5

Sat 20 Aug

Another gathering of sterling local music from the good folks at Sounds From Nowhere. Tonight they bring together the shimmering, expansive post-punk of SeaWitches, West Coast garage enthusiasts Chupa Cabra, addictively off-kilter popsmiths Bathymetry, psych adventurers The Floormen, and glistening indie jangles from Echo Beach. Solid line-up, solid bands, solid night out. Well, not literally. What would that even mean?
Buyers Club, 6pm, £7 tickets, £8 OTD

...And the week's gig highlights end in a similar place to where we came in: with some blissfully chill roots reggae sounds. Julian 'Ju Ju' Marley, the son of some guy named Bob (oh, you've heard of him?) hasn't been so busy in terms of releases in recent years (last album release came out in 2009 – we've done the maths and we make that SEVEN YEARS) but his reputation as a live act is exceptional. It's worth taking the chance to check him out.
District, 8pm, £15

Now Booking

Heading to Buyers Club on 13 October are groove-centric Bristol nosiemakers The Shimmer Band, whose merging of classic rock'n'roll and blistering electronic noise should go down a treat with fans of Blossoms and Primal Scream. Buy tickets here.