Live music in Liverpool this week (22-29 Jun)

We dive into the listings to bring you this 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 22 Jun

It's a decidedly wonky start to the week's gigs, as New Zealand's Unknown Mortal Orchestra come to town, tearing down walls with psych-flecked weirdo-pop and futurist-as-imagined-in-the-80s synths. Currently based in Portland, Oregon, UMC mainman Ruban Nielson wrote latest album Multi-Love about his experience of a polyamorous relationship, but they deserve to be the sole recipients of your affections. 
Arts Club, 7pm, £16.50

Of a decidedly punkier but no less excellent bent, fellow Portlanders Lecherous Gaze bring their thrillingly messy psych-punk roar to Liverpool on the same night. With ex-members of Annihilation Time in their midst, tonight they're assisted by two fast'n'furious Manchester faves – Denim & Leather and Aggressive Perfector – and new hometown heroes Sheer Attack to make for one helluva hardcore good time. FACT.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 8pm, £5

Thu 23 Jun

Liverpool Calling 2016 may have been unexpectedly cancelled at the last minute (more on that below), but this warm-up show is still going ahead. Starring Chester's finest indie-pop classicists Peaness alongside the more debauched sounds of Psycho Comedy, the night doubles up as a launch night for the latest issue of Bido Lito!. Plus it's at Maguire's, so don't forget to load up to delicious pizza between bands.
Maguire's Pizza Bar, 8pm, free entry

Fri 24 Jun

Ex-Easter Island Head, photo: Marie Hazelwood

The word 'special' is bandied about a lot these days, so trust us when we say that this team-up between Daniel Thorne's Immix Ensemble and the ever-amazing Ex-Easter Island Head will be veryfuckingspecialindeed. Schyeah, we could talk about stuff like 'avant-classical meets rhythmic drone' or 'unique opportunities to see two formidable artists in rare collaboration.' Trufax aside, a better selling point is the fact that this will be jaw-to-the-floor amazing – 100% unmissable stuff for the adventurously-minded.
The Bluecoat, 7pm, £5

Sat 25 Jun

The La's. Shack. The Stairs. The Coral. If these are the sort of names that float your own personal boat, then here's the show for you: name a post-60s Scousepop guitar band and it's odds-on they're in thrall to the LA sounds of Arthur Lee's legendary Love. Lee himself passed away in 2006, but his bandmates play through their classic first three records as Love Revisited at Leaf ahead of this summer's Love tribute at LIMF (Sefton Park, 24 Jul). Raucous support comes from Manchester garage punks Proto Idiot (featuring members of The Hipshakes) – the event's sold out at the time of writing, but we'd advise you to beg or borrow a ticket (not steal; what do you take us for...?) wherever possible.
Leaf, 8pm, £17.60

Metalheads looking to get their mosh on might be better advised to head to Bumper, however, where Reading's heavy-as-fuck Ancient Ascendant line up against Birmingham death metallers Hærken for an admirably noisy night of top riffage and brutal intensity. If that wasn't enough, they're topping a bill that also features the Liverpool finalists of the Metal 2 the Masses contest, which we presume will be a bit like the end of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey but with a few less robots, aliens and time-travelling phonebooths. You never know though.
Bumper, 6pm, £5

Mon 27 Jun

PAWS, photo: Solas Nicol

The final must-see event of the week comes courtesy of Scotland's finest pop-punk acts: PAWS have a new album in the shape of No Grace, which is guaranteed to find a place in the hearts of Cheap Girls, Japandroids and Beach Slang fans everywhere. The Spook School, meanwhile, set out to slay the gender binary and burn masculinity with second LP Try to be Hopeful, and with tunes as good as Speak When You're Spoken To, we can only assume they'll manage it. 
Studio 2, 7pm, £7.50

Now booking...

Liverpool Music Week returns in October, and with that announcement comes news of their first confirmed act for 2016: the mighty Warpaint open proceedings with an appearance at the Grand Central Dome on 26 October. Keep an eye on these pages for more news on this year's Liverpool Music Week line-up, and book tickets over at the LMW website.

In other news...

Sefton Park Palm House 

Liverpool International Music Festival will launch a new radio station, set to broadcast between 2-29 July with a special focus on the festival line-up and the city's musical heritage. LIMF Radio will also operate training workshops for young people looking to break into the industry, with sessions led by BBC Radio 1's Adele Roberts, amongst others. This year's LIMF Summer Jam in Sefton Park stars Sigma, Lianne La Havas and the Buzzcocks, with separate strands planned around Liverpool's contributions to punk, reggae, soul and hip-hop.

As we mentioned above, there was bad news this week for the 2016 edition of the Liverpool Calling festival. As organisers explained, the event has been cancelled "due to reasons beyond [their] control." This year's outing was due to be headlined by Spector and Coasts, with a packed line-up of local acts including SPRQ, The Jackobins, Elevant and The Floormen also scheduled to take over Camp and Furnace on 9 July.

The Jackobins

"This was a very tough decision and one that we didn't want to make," say organisers in their official statement. "We explored numerous options to save the event but unfortunately we have been unable to find a way to keep the event alive. We aim to be back, stronger than ever in 2017. This isn’t the end, it is a new beginning"