The ID Parade @ The Admiral, 31 July

When a band choose ukulele-strumming, chalk-faced Beckettian ghouls as their main support act, you know they’re aiming for something a little out of the ordinary. By the time cyber-punk clowns on stilts emerge to bound around the room manically, the vibe is closer to decadent cabaret than flea-pit indie-rock. The air of oddness throughout the ID Parade’s launch night for new EP The Shotgun Stare (and the Distant Gaze) means that any unsuccessful elements - a chuckle-free Chuckle brother compere, guitarist Chris Ritchie’s peculiar habit of bellowing about Vietnam in between songs in a cod-counter-cultural yank accent - are masked by the other bizarro pleasures on offer. To an enthusiastic crowd, the ID Parade’s flit from growled, gnarled blues rock to spikier indie-pop territory and back again, varying their sound so that, like the night as a whole, you’re never entirely sure what to expect next.