Air Guitars At The Ready Part Two: Three More London Bands To Watch

Chris Lockie
By Chris Lockie Last edited 130 months ago
Air Guitars At The Ready Part Two: Three More London Bands To Watch


Following last month’s profile of three up-and-coming London bands to watch, Londonist unearths three more acts deserving of your attention. Get them while they’re hot!

Whales In Cubicles

Who?
Stef Bernardi, Alex Pyper and Jamie Powell.

Where?
Hackney born and bred.

What?
Indie riff-rock at its finest. The lighter side of Hundred Reasons mixed with a dose of London enigmas My Vitriol. A recent interview in French compared the band to Razorlight, but let us assure you, a huge amount was lost in translation as those words crossed the Channel.

Why?
Strong melodies and soaring vocals make for a powerful mixture. Sometimes there's just no need for music to be unnecessarily 'clever' - sometimes it's enough for the tunes to speak for themselves. Forthcoming single Disappear will be backed by a headline show at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on 6 June and an album is due before the end of this year.

Partly Faithful

Who?
Ed Banshee, Anouska Haze, Christopher Blake and Ned K.

Where?
All over the place – Islington, Greenwich, Crystal Palace and “near Nunhead”.

What?
Post-punk flows through this band’s arteries, with the spirit of Gang of Four and Public Image Ltd never far from the surface. That’s not to say the pointy style of that genre overwhelms the tunes – they can certainly string a melody together to keep things interesting.

Why?
With their album Lazarus Under Glass just released it’s the perfect time to catch Partly Faithful. A recent serious illness suffered by guitarist Anouska Haze won’t stop her thrashing her instrument to the point of breakage at Discovery 2 at AAA in Kensington on 30 May, and the band follow that up with gigs at The Windmill in Brixton and Hoxton Underbelly.

The Ethical Debating Society

Who?
Tegan, Kris, Eli and Su.

Where?
Also Hackney. Come on rest of London, you’re being shown up!

What?
Manic ‘riot pop’, more often very loud than not. Their name nods to the politics that come across clearly in the lyrics of founder Tegan Christmas. Think Sleater-Kinney headbutting the Dead Kennedys.

Why?
More than a few heads have been turned by this band’s exuberance, not least at a raucous recent set at the Buffalo Bar in Islington. They bear a passing resemblance to cult Scottish band Bis, who The Ethical Debating Society support at a gig at the Lexington on 25 July. Debut single Creosote Ideas has just popped up on American label Happy Happy Birthday To Me and big things are expected.

By Chris Lockie

Last Updated 24 May 2013