London Zine of Music, Arts and Miscellaneous Happenings. Monthly updates & seasonal physicals.
02
___London Sacred Harp @ Cafe OTO £7 / 12 / 14 - A rare performance from the London choir that usually only sings to itself. Following the 19th-century American protestant tradition of the same name, four choir sections sit facing inwards, choosing songs at will and without rehearsal. They start by tuning to each other, next they sing verses with the monosyllabic solfege note names – the most surreal point of each hymn – finally, the lyrics come forth. Reminiscent of the Missa Luba, the four interwoven parts, chugging rhythmically, are remarkable and detached heavily from the more common, high-church choir tradition. Regardless of your faith, it will be heavenly. tickets
03
___Small Print: The Guided Tour [ART] @ Tenderbooks FREE - Artist Veronica Ditting leads a guided tour of her “Small Print” installation at Tenderbooks. Presented across the shop’s window vitrines, Small Print offers a glimpse at more than 100 rare miniature books from Ditting’s collection, tracing how these tiny volumes have shaped her design practice. Email hello@tenderbooks.co.uk to reserve. info
05
___New Music Mondays @ Windmill Brixton FREE - Hopefully having outgrown NYE’s hangover, make your way to this freebie: one of the Windmill’s infamous New Music Monday shows, the place most London bands start if they want to cement themselves in the Windmill repertoire. Although they’re still fresh, the night contains a name most would have heard – Little Grandad – whose impressive work ethic has landed them an abusive number of gigs since conception in August ‘25. This time, their second NMM, they’ll be playing an entirely fresh set. Except americanaey-indie rock with harmonies a-plenty. Don’t be afraid if you see a couple of gawping quarter-zips, that’ll be the A&Rs looking for fresh blood in Q1. It’s not all about Little Grandad, though! Make sure you catch Jonique, Magistrate, and Three Hares: any one of them may be the next big thing, you’ll be sorry to have missed. rsvp
___Damon & Naomi and Gina Birch @ Cafe OTO £12 / 16 / 20 - A gig from two of the core songwriters of Galaxie 500, with support from The Raincoat’s Gina Birch…need I say more? Well, I will. Since marking the world with their soft and slow poppy-rush pop and perhaps the only Joy Division/New Order cover we’ll ever need (sorry Radiohead), Boston’s Damon & Naomi have been writing even sparser-textured psychedelia that’ll have you swaying. Copies of Damon’s book, Why Sound Matters, will be available too. Gina Birch’s signature bass-heavy, dub-inspired experimentalism may even overshadow the rest of the evening, but I’m sure your dah will be pleased to hear that Stewart Lee will be involved in some manner tickets
08
___Komo Release Show @ George Tavern £5 / 8 - Celebrating their release ‘KOMO and the Action Men’, if you dig through the crispy lo-fi crust and blazing mantle of totally wacko fuzz-out guitar sprangs and screams, you’ll find some serious funk and some serious gems. Make sure to get freaky with New Hat first… tickets
09
___Running Standard @ Windmill Brixton £6 - Lend just a minute to the live-session on their Instagram, and Running Standard will hook you. Saturated, hoarse, and with chiming beauty, their songs do not need to rely on pure volume and speed. With great songwriting comes great longevity. tickets
___Re-Enchantment [LITERATURE] @ Horse Hospital £4 - London collective Re-Enchantment host a series of readings for those feeling inclined toward literature and criticism in the new year. tickets
10
___Holly Head @ The Lexington £8 Find Joy - Defibrillator in hand, Manchester’s Holly Head are one of the few bands successfully keeping post-punk alive, as it cycles in endless simulation. Perhaps their melodic inclination in both guitars and vocals, alongside jungle-inflected drumming, is a more effective subliminal conduit for political thought than the vapid sprechgesang that once pricked ears and now rolls eyes. Support comes from the fine Mancunians Slowhandclap, whose stuttering, tightly-strung noise-punk is perfect for your current fix. Finally, London’s own gegenpress lead the night, returning from a recording hiatus with a just-released debut single – their minimalist post-hardcore trio set-up allows the group to explore sprawling songs that incorporate space and dissonance…what the UK is desperately in need of. tickets
12
___Pindrop Presents: Senrab @ Windmill Brixton £6 - We’re super excited to have Senrab headlining, an emo-stoner-metal group that have been intrinsic to London’s vibrant warehouse-show scene! Watch out for your ears. Coming from Bristol, we have one of our absolute favourite bands, Sunglasz Vendor, who mix high octane (Mid-)West Country emo technicality with melancholic chords and unique lyricism. Next, a Windmill favourite of The Wheel 2!, whose blend of prog, synth and noise-rock is better heard than described. New screamo rockers Sweetfish open – their awesome debut EP sets the tone for what is to come. tickets
13
___RABBITFOOT @ Lexington £15.14 Line of Best Fit - Part of the Line Of Best Fit’s forecast of bands to watch in 2026, RABBITFOOT headline the night with their mix of spoken word and genre-blending instrumentals that dot between time signatures. Be sure to get down early to catch Green Star’s atmospheric shoegazey grunge. Brighton based Glasshouse Red Spider Mite start off the night with their take on slowcore, infusing earnest lyricism and folk sensibilities. tickets
14
___Bargain Bingo Disco: Form Affinity @ Sebright Arms £3 Big Richard X Still Listening - The next iteration of the night where if you see every act you may win a prize! Form Affinity’s music is slow at points, but in a way that fills your gut with a certain melancholy angst. Support, Half Star's choruses are bound to perk your ears with soft, but punchy, vocals and intricate guitar lines. London newcomers Bone China also join them on the bill! tickets
16
___Omertà Single Release Party @ Windmill Brixton £7 - Messy and performative, Omertà are not the first band to be heavily inspired by the absurd theatre of Lias Saoudi. However, while numerous other groups try to counterfeit the Fat White’s mythical depravity and early blitzkrieg garage rock, Omertà are at least trying to update the canon. Okay they’ve got fast 2-bar loop mosh-inducers, but they’re at their best when they unleash their creepy, sprawling, slower numbers. They celebrate the release of their debut single ‘Gay Hitler’...eyeroll. tickets
17
___Turnspit @ Windmill Brixton £6 Private Regcords - Leeds-based outfit Turnspit venture to the capital. With a rather cryptic online presence, there's not much in the public domain about them. However, a look on your streaming platform of choice will unveil a selection of songs that lie between dance music and downtempo trip hop. Joining them is MM'99 with their sensationally dubby hyperpop music that is bound to fill a dancefloor. The rest of this lineup is still under wraps, but it’s bound to be good. tickets
23
___PNEU @ Old Blue Last £6 Big Richard Records - A night that will have writing out complex algebra on a hand-held whiteboard – Big Richard Records bring out some of math-rock’s big guns. Dissonant and acerbically heavy, France’s brutal-proggists PNEU will destroy you. Most exciting is a surprising instalment from guitar experimentalist Stef Kett’s trio, Reciprocate. Upon foundations of immaculate bass and drums, Kett’s signature whammy-bar overindulgence pushes amps to 11: creative and melodic, it wails around his toughened blues-rock vocals. tickets
24
___My New Band Believe @ MOTH Club FREE Bad Vibes 2026: Year Of The Horse - Part of the MOTH Club’s January showcase series My New Band Band Believe, featuring Bossa nova esque guitar playing by Cameron Picton of Black Midi fame backed by drums and often double bass. Manchester based Septet MLEKO join them on the bill with their noisy and maximalist cacophony of saxophones, keys and trumpets alongside Euth and Expiry tickets
26-01
Independent Venue Week
The UK's annual celebration of grassroots music, empowering local communities to put on some of the most exciting line-ups of the year. Some really smashing gigs from a lot of Pindrop's favourite acts – too many to name! Here's some that peak our interest:
27
___Dog Saints @ George Tavern £6 / 10 tickets
28
___elwell @ Sebright Arms FREE Esco Romanesco Records - Melodic guitar music is back, finally, and is Leeds its capital? While the subtle art has been strewn to the wasteland, Big Chorus monopolises BBC6. Nevertheless, elwell fight the good fight: still slacking and with Midwest emo influence aplenty, their chiming, bouncing chords are enough! Support, Vehicle, lean into a punkish Yorkshire-snarl as their saturated guitars make beautiful movement – perfect if you’ve ran out of ‘80s indie compilations and need something fresh. rsvp
___Dean Rodney Jr. & The Cowboys @ Ivy House £10.3 - Donning a golden cowboy hat, Dean Rodney Jr. opens a new chapter in the ‘Dean-TV-world’ he’s been curating for the last 10 years across countless albums and numerous groups, such as The Fish Police (who are also very good). Synthy and spacey, the music is pretty darn slick for outsider-pop, but DRJ’s surreal stories are always the centre of attention. Check out his 2023 song Bro Bro Man. tickets
29
___studio20 @ The Victoria £8.61 tickets
___Truthpaste @ George Tavern £7 / 10 - The George continues it streak of top notch IVW shows with a headline slot from easily the most whimsical newcomers around. Mancunian’s Truthpaste arm themselves with bundles of wit, an orchestral-esque formation and their signature drum machine accompaniment. Joined by slowcore experimentalist TV and newcomers Compost Compost Compost, this show is the clear standout of a stacked IVW lineup at the George. tickets
30
___Pencil @ 100 Club £11.75 Dork X Close Up tickets
___Hot Face @ Shacklewell Arms £8.8 Bad Vibrations tickets
31
___IMPULSE CONTROL @ Avalon Cafe £12 / 16 - Cairo-based industrial club producer Assyouti debuts in the UK, using a canvas of ultra-saturated yet simple drums to unleash his overwhelming, relentless, gut-rumbling bass mutation maximalism. Next, Infinity Division uses warbling analogue synth ambience to set the scene, before dropping the synths into breakcore, where they warp and weave within. London EBM-punk duo Nation Unrest are the most stripped back on the line, with their momentum coming almost entirely from fast-paced arpeggiated bass. Make sure to see audio visual artist trashedbaby and a hybrid noise performance from Y Gwacter and Pale World! tickets
by JR
Boasting the last remaining 1950’s ballroom in London, the Rivoli is a venue which implies a sort of old-time glamour regardless of what is being hosted there. Though famous for its Northern Soul nights, the venue took a decidedly literary turn in hosting a “Winter Ball” for Die Quieter Please Magazine and the Lost Property lecture series. Christmas trees festooned with tinsel and baubles only added to the charm of chandeliers and lanterns, allowing the audience to settle into a series of readings which ranged from serious to seriously silly.
Then of course, was the ending performance by My New Band Believe. In contrast to some of the more abrasive sonic elements debuted at the Windmill gig the previous night, frontman Cameron Picton and the rest of the band opted for a much smoother sound on the night. In this case, the set begins with a cover of Cameron Winter’s “Love Takes Miles.” This iteration is both lusher and more direct than Winter’s original and more melodic than the version covered at the Windmill the night before. While each has their own place, the crowd is clearly receptive to this version of the song. The more kinesthetically gifted of the audience engage in a charleston-adjacent dance while the clumsier in the crowd opt to gently sway along; the end result is a dance floor that is at once once entirely alive yet relaxed enough for space to move around.
The band then began to play their own original repertoire, with the fan-titled “365 Party Boy” particularly energising the crowd. Picton is wearing a neck-mounted harmonica, inflecting the song with an occasional bluesy diversion. This more acoustic turn contrasts with how the song was previously performed at “Cam Pic” solo shows, having been previously programmed onto an Octatrak instrument. The harmonica is a crowd favourite, though, eliciting cheers whenever it is interjected into the song. Another notable element of the set is the decision to close on a longer, jammier version of Lecture 25. Within the swirl of the crowd–with couples now waltzing along to the music–the song seems to extend forever in a cheerful crescendo of sound and affect. While not a standard gig by any stretch, the Rivoli ballroom has brought out a new side of My New Band Believe and in the process producing one of the best crowd experiences attached to a black midi-adjacent project perhaps ever.
SE
___Deformative by Black Eyes (US, 2003)
___Animation by Swallow Tongue (UK, 1983)
___Nellypot by Search Results (Ireland, 2025)
GKA
___The Shitehawk Rides at Dawn by jawharp (UK, 2025)
___Pretty Late On in Life by Benjamin Marshall (UK, 2025)
___Dinosaurs by Colour (UK, 2015)
JR
___Kicked Out by Seven by Double Virgo (UK, 2023)
___Live Forever by The Hellp (US, 2025)
___Computer Vision by Oneohtrix Point Never (US, 2009)
MGB
___Miss Misery by Elliott Smith (US, 1997)
___Bumper by Silkarmour (UK, 2025)
___Air Force (Alternative Version) by Worldpeace DMT and Rowan Please (UK, 2025)