THU 7th SURIKI + CHAMFER BULLINGDON ARMS Moody rock with a proggy edge from Suriki; funky pop with slick acid-jazz tendencies from Chamfer. SAT 9th CALLOUS + FLUME THE JERICHO @ THE FIRKIN Mighty, melodic hardcore attack from the most incendiary live band in town. More traditional rock goings on from Flume, featuring ex-Earth Machine singer Bob Lawrence. SUN 10th SLIPSTA THE DOLLY Punk and grunge rock. WED 13th LOOPY + POLAR THE DOLLY Smiley happy 80s-influenced pop sounds from Loopy; moddish indie rock from Reading's Polar. FOUR-WAY TRAUMA BULLINGDON ARMS Return of ex-Tumbleweed mainman Charlie Coombes, promising a more mature sound. FRI 15th HALO + KILTER THE POINT Indie/dance crossover from Halo. Guildford's Kilter released their debut single on Shifty Disco last year and garnered rave reviews for their dark, caustic pop, compared to Sonic Youth and the Pixies fronted by Liz Fraser. There is no higher praise. HIGH & MIGHTY + GROUNDSWELL BULLINGDON ARMS Local hard rocking grunge-metal faves headline over ex-Ned's Atomic Dustbin vocalist John Penney's new band, displaying a similarly raucous brand of punk-pop. SAT 16th PLASTISCENE + DOLLY THE POINT Dark and funky rock from Plastiscene at the point where the Cure meet the Smiths. Irresistible sugary pop from Dolly. MANIACAL THE PIT, WITNEY Witney stalwarts blast off once again with another dose of off-kilter noise, taking in Blur and the Cardiacs and giving them a grungey kick up the backside. SUN 17th BORGNINE + THE RELATIONSHIPS THE DOLLY Double bill of veteran local pop heroes. Sweet surf-tinged pop from Borgnine with support from breezy godfathers of Oxford indie pop, the Relationships. TUE 19th THE BLUETONES BROOKES UNIVERSITY SU Dropped by their record label, the Stone Roses 2nd XI wannabe also-rans are going it alone. Will you be joining them? WED 20th UNKLE + IDLEWILD + DELAKOTA + LLAMA FARMERS BROOKES UNIVERSITY SU The all-star NME Premier tour comes to town - see news preview. MINDSURFER + THE JESUS UNDERGROUND BAND + DIE PRETTY BULLINGDON ARMS Extreme metal madness from the Metallica acolytes. Support from maddest band on the planet, the Jesus Underground, compared variously to Captain Beefheart, the Pop Group and an industrial Slovakian art cabaret. With cellophane and face paint. Psychedelic synth pop from Die Pretty. THU 21st THE SAMURAI SEVEN THE JERICHO @ THE FIRKIN Oxford's fave pop pups if the recent Shifty Disco subscribers' poll is to be believed. All-action speedball fun on a big shiny stick. With harmonies. FRI 22nd THE MASTABLASTA THE PIT, WITNEY Return of one-time Nubiles guitarist Chris. THE WORKHOUSE + THE JEFFAREES BULLINGDON ARMS Swoonsome cathedrals of sound etc from the Workhouse. Pulp-esque pop from the Jeffarees. SAT 23rd CHAMFER + FLUKESTAR THE POINT Double bill of new local pop talent. THE JESUS UNDERGROUND BAND THE PIT, WITNEY See Wed 20th. SUNFLY + MR BIG UK BULLINGDON ARMS Local blues rock veterans. SUN 24th LIMEHOUSE LIZZY THE DOLLY Superior Thin Lizzy tribute. MON 25th BELLATRIX BULLINGDON ARMS If we were to tell you that Bellatrix were four girls and one boy from Iceland and their singer sounds quite a bit like Bjork you might well sigh into your pint, but really, this cute little combo might just save pop music in 1999. Flush with spiky attitude and a giant sack of cool sounds, Bellatrix manage to seamlessly mesh rigid house beats onto devilishly high-octane indie pop and some weird folky stuff. Fizzbomb guitars, bulbous keyboards and some feisty violin work. There first album was on the Sugarcubes' label and their name back home is Koirassa Krokridandi, which wouldn't help get them much airplay over here. Probably this year's most unlikely pop stars. TUE 26th RESERVOIR CATS THE DOLLY Hard-rocking local bluesmen, promoting their debut release - a cover of Screaming Jay Hawkins' 'You Put A Spell On Me'. See this month's Released WED 27th CALLOUS + XI THE DOLLY Smart but dangerous teaming of Oxford's two noisiest, nastiest bands. Lethal melodic hardcore from Callous; bludgeoning gut-churning racket from XI in a vaguely Butthole Surfers-meets-Husker Du kinda way. CANOLA BULLINGDON ARMS Feisty, fiery grunge pop in a Sonic Youth/Superchunk vein. THU 28th MANSUN BROOKES UNIVERISTY S.U. Mansun finally come to town for their rearranged gig at Brookes. The band were due to play there in November but cancelled to tour with the Manics. Worth the wait? Well, last year's 'Six' was certainly an ambitious project, attempting to reintroduce the idea of the concept album back into music. It's partial success proved that they've got guts as well as some grand plans and they're even cool enough to have got Howard Devoto out of retirement for a collaboration. Their gigs, though can be ramshackle affairs and they're prone to displaying obvious influences from all corners. Still, they're gained a fanatical fanbase on a par with their recent tour-mates and experience has taught us not to invoke the wrath of such people. Mansun, then not bad and quite popular. KATE RUSBY THE ZODIAC Poozies singer, guitarist and fiddle player going solo and making English folk music sexy again. New album `Hourglass' is out now. THE JUNKET THE JERICHO @ THE FIRKIN Indie power-pop out of Bedford. FRI 29th SCRIBBLE THE PIT, WITNEY Excellent, frenetic noiseniks, crushing everything from Supergrass to My Bloody Valentine into a tight little punk-pop ball and drop-kicking it into the burning heart of rock and roll. Oh yes. SAT 30th DUSTBALL + XI THE POINT Spine-tingling masters of wired-to-the-max punk pop and winners of the recent Shifty Disco poll best a-side for 'Senor Nachos'. DOLLY + MADONNA INSTITUTE THE JERICHO @ THE FIRKIN Sweet folk-pop from Dolly with support from ex-Manyeung guitarist Phill's new band. OVERGROUND THE PIT, WITNEY 60s power-pop with a country tinge from the recent Shifty Disco singlers. THE SELECTER BULLINGDON ARMS Ska and 2-Tone die-hards, fronted by original singer Pauline Black, back promoting their new album. SUN 31st MINDSURFER + CHOKE THE DOLLY Double dose of heavy metal mayhem.