Did you attend the first DiScover Club of the year, at London's Notting Hill Arts Club on January 13? If not, why not?! It was ace: we had Loney, Dear, former Eastern Lane man Derek Meins and the well-special House Of Brothers. And it was free. And it was rammed, and fun, and great. Frankly, you'd be very silly to miss any of these upcoming shows...

DiS is running free monthly shows at the Notting Hill Arts Club, under the DiScover Club banner, all year. These shows run from four 'til eight on Saturday afternoon, and are open to anyone over 18 for absolutely NO MONEY. Check out the details of upcoming gigs below, and we hope to see you there once a month 'til we reach the depths of winter once again...

All DiScover Club shows listed below are held at Notting Hill Arts Club (21 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ), from 4pm until 8pm. All are over-18s events, with drinks offers. All are free entry and run in collaboration with Rough Trade Shops, who've run the RoTa afternoons for some seven years. Click here for venue information including a link to a map, and here to visit the venue's site where further RoTa afternoon listings are available, as well as details on the club's many other nights.

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February 17, 2007 - THANKS TO ALL THAT CAME!

Down I Go - Mr Bungle'd-up hardcore with a deathwish played by the nation's sole purveyors of 'disastercore'. It's laugh-aloud funny and brutal as heck, too.
MySpace

Rolo Tomassi - Sheffield-spawned keyboard whizkids with Trencher fixations playing splattercore punkin'pop a la An Albatross given an oral examination by the Cartoon Network's finest. Hotly tipped by just about anyone with ears right now, including DiS (click), who called their self-titled EP of 2006 "one of the year's most amazing discoveries" (review).
MySpace

Manatees - Compared to Red-era King Crimson, assuming the prog-rock dinosaurs were sludge-wading warriors of doom. Other corners of the press have muttered the words 'Isis' and 'Neurosis'. Their Untitled album of late 2006 made Rock Sound magazine's best of the year list and was reviewed by DiS here.
MySpace

PLUS: DJ Darren Taylor (Rock Sound's editor, no less) and Holy Roar DJs.
Add to your gig calendar here; listen to Manatees and Rolo Tomassi on our latest podcast, here

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March 3, 2007

October All Over - London-based rockers with one foot in the Pixies' pop-hooked punk and another in the heavy-hitting hardcore of the Uns sane and wound. Much-loved by DiSsers all over this land, the four-piece are a live act of tip-top excellence certain to get yr brain rattling.
MySpace

twentysixfeet - Another inspiring outfit from the nation's capital, twentysixfeet's mutated punk morphs from Muse-like operatics into 65daysofstatic breakdowns and right through into the sweetest post-rock this side of something pretty sweet.
MySpace

An Emergency (pictured) - We're so bloody chuffed to welcome An Emergency to the DiScover Club, all the way from Exeter. The trio craft spiky post-punk in the vein of Enon and Q And Not U, or even Black Eyes; think recent-history Dischord meets chart-friendly dance-punk, and fail at every attempt to prevent your bottom from shaking. Check out a review of their latest album, We Are The Octagonists, here.
MySpace

PLUS: DiS versus Wichita on the decks.
Add this date to your gig calendar here; listen to An Emergency on our latest podcast, here

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April 14, 2007

Sky Larkin - A DiS tip for 2007 (click), Leeds-spawned Sky Larkin are a hook-laden trio that draw comparisons to The Breeders and Howling Bells. Their debut seven-inch, 'One Of Two' (review), has received plenty o' acclaim across the musical board, and was spun on DiS's latest podcast - download it here.
MySpace

Prego - Ambitious Londoners already tipped by much of the rock press, Prego are masters of mixing the epic soundscapes of post-rock's finest protagonists (and if you're a fan of those, check the June bill!) with straight-to-the-point hooks and bursts of blindsiding aggression. With comparisons to Fugazi and Death Cab For Cutie under their belts, expect Prego's following to grow larger and larger, sooner rather than later...
MySpace

SPECIAL GUESTS - We're keeping this outfit under our proverbial hat for the time being. Keep 'em peeled for further information nearer the time.

PLUS: DiS.com DJs.
Add this date to your gig calendar here

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May 5, 2007

Meet Me In St Louis - Another DiS tip for the year (click), Surrey-based post-hardcore-ers MMISL have received hella love from both DiS writers and messageboarders alike; their recent shows have been nothing less than stunning - just ask my frazzled earholes - and they're set to record their debut album this year with Alex Newport (Icarus Line, At The Drive-In, etc!). DiS welcomed MMISL to the Arts Club last summer, and we're pleased as punch to have them back. Boys, you've seven thumbs up from here, however that works.
MySpace

Chow Chow - One of the finest of massively pop-hooked bands to emerge from the Fantastic Plastic stable of late, Chow Chow have DiS all tingly with late-'90s indie nostalgia with their songs about race cars and wig-rocking skeletons. They're a little college rock, a little pop-punking, a lot good. They sound like the sort of band Melody Maker would champion, if only it still existed. They sound like your favourite chart-bothering indie act being attacked by robot soldiers. They sound The Good.
MySpace

PLUS: DiS.com DJs and one more band TBC.
Add this date to your gig calendar here; listen to MMISL on our latest podcast here

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June 23, 2007

Yndi Halda - Yet another of DiS's tips for the year (click), Kent's Yndi Halda have received amazing reviews for their recently released Enjoy Eternal Bliss EP/album (it's four tracks long, but really long, so you decide). DiS slapped a 9/10 (review) on its behind and then called its makers asking them to play a show for us; they said yes, and here we are. This will be special: one of the finest instrumental acts around, on the globe, playing the intimate Notting Hill Arts Club. Be there, or be missing out on something that'll stay with you for months.
MySpace

These Monsters - Amazing jazz-speckled post-rock - think Sweep The Leg Johnny meets Explosions In The Sky in the belly of a volcano - all the way from the hotbed of talent that is the fair city of Leeds. Already well-respected at an underground level, 2007 could (should!) be the year that this awesome quartet gains nationwide recognition, for they're every way as powerful and affecting as the Sigur Ros's of this world.
MySpace

PLUS: DiS.com DJs and one more band TBC.
Add this date to your gig calendar here

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DiScuss: That's quite a line-up or some, no? Who do you reckon the special guests in April will be? Are there any bands we should definitely be booking for future DiScover Club shows? We'll be booking July, August and September SOON. Which bands are you most looking forward to?