August is often the slowest month for live music but 2014 has monumentally bucked this trend in Cambridge. With some fantastic shows on the radar it was tough to call a gig of the month, but The Pains of Being Pure At Heart have sneaked it for us, just! These Brooklyn indie-pop stalwarts, who returned with their eagerly anticipated third LP titled Days of Abandon in June, will play The Portland Arms on Tuesday 19 August. The band’s new album comes o the back of two critically acclaimed records – 2009’s self-titled debut and its 2011 follow-up, Belong – and demonstrates the group’s ability to shift musical registers from bedroom pop daydreams to Alternative Nation anthems.
Sofar Sounds are back in Cambridge this month, with a special show as part of this year’s Romsey Art Festival. Sofar Sounds curate secret, intimate gigs around the world and in July, they brought We Were Evergreen and Will Roberts to the city in a secret show. Whilst we’re sworn to secrecy about this month’s performance, we can reveal that it will take place somewhere in Romsey and the line-up will not disappoint. Only those subscribed to the Sofar Sounds mailing list will get an invite to the show so get yourself signed up at sofarsounds.com.
The mesmerising St Vincent plays the Cambridge Junction on 19 August as part of a brief run of UK dates following her recently released fourth album, St Vincent, which was met with widespread critical acclaim. And with performances at the Reading and Leeds Festival weekender at the end of the month, Deaf Havana return to Cambridge for a pre-festival warm-up show.
Local band The Whybirds return to The Portland Arms this month, playing on Saturday 9th. The group have been busy over the last few years, running up and down the country spreading their English take on southern fried rock and roll to the masses. Lazy comparisons would be The Boss, Lynyrd and Neil Young, but hell, it’s not rocket science, but we like it.
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