Each week, there are 10 great acts in our playlist, all with a connection to Reading or Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen, and we hope you find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music.
1. Leoni Jakobi – Don’t Mind Me (While I Give You Up) –
Regular readers may remember we featured a track by Leoni Jakobi after seeing her in a support slot on one of our road trips back in August. We like to keep an eye on talent we discover like that, and were delighted to hear this, her latest single, released just last month, a joyful celebration of relief felt at the end of a bad relationship, with the singer able to move on to better things. https://www.facebook.com/leoniejaprofil
2. TRASHCAT – I KNOW YOU LOVE ME –
Someone who we’ve been following for even longer is the talented Charlie Stokes from Bracknell. We first saw her in Helta Skelta in 2019, then in 2023 and 2024 we featured tracks from Pinewall. This is her latest release, under the Trashcat name, a great piece of pop-punk with a warning to the other party in the relationship that things might be about to get difficult! https://
www.instagram.com/trashcatmusic_/
3. The Mezz – Sleeping in Cars –
We were sorry to see the very recent news that Oxford-based indie band The Mezz are calling it a day. We saw them play in Reading several times in the last few years, and they were great every time. They released what is now their final single just before that announcement, and they’re going out on a high, with an appropriately nostalgic song about their childhood, and how the things you want to change as you grow up turn out to be the things you miss looking back. https:// www.facebook.com/themezzuk
4. The Outliers – Hardest Goodbye –
Bracknell-based The Outliers is a new venture involving two members of Red Tape Resistance, Harry Elliott-Snowball and Conor O’Grady, plus Ben Britton on drums (as Harry moves up front on guitar and vocals). They’re exploring a slightly more mellow vibe than RTR, and this is a great debut track. We look forward to more new music from them, as well as from Red Tape Resistance which is also a continuing project. https://www.instagram.com/theoutliers_band/
5. Ruby Dawn – Alice Come Home –
This track is taken from the second album from Carola Baer’s Ruby Dawn, “Blood on Water”, which has been released, only six months after their debut album, which is very impressive. Carola is based in Reading, and has been developing some of the songs on this album for many years, and others are more recent compositions. This is a great example of progressive rock, and the band launched the album last Friday at The Butler. https://www.rubydawn.co.uk/
6. Steve Hackett – Ace of Wands – Live at Trading Boundaries –
Steve Hackett was the guitarist with Genesis during their early classic period, and has had a distinguished solo career since. We were treated to an exhibition of music from both periods with his band’s recent visit to The Hexagon, and now you can get a feel for the live performance with his latest album Live at Trading Boundaries, from which this track is taken, and which has just gone to number 1 in the UK Rock Chart! https://hackettsongs.com/
7. Funke and the Two Tone Baby – Can’t Stop The Music –
Despite the act’s name, Dan Turnbull is the only person you’ll see onstage at a Funke and the Two Tone Baby gig, but he makes music that you wouldn’t believe possible from a solo performer, with acoustic guitar, keys, drum machine and loop pedals (of which he’s a master). His show at the Facebar last week for Club Velocity was excellent, hear for yourself with this track from his recent live album. https://www.facebook.com/funkeandthetwotonebaby
8. Glitch – Patience –
Just announced as the band to open this year’s Wokingham Festival (date for your diaries – August Bank Holiday weekend), Glitch are a new young band from Maidenhead, and have just released this, their debut single. Their aim is to restore catchy pop and rock songs to mainstream radio, and we think they’re going in the right direction with this track! https://glitchmusic.uk/
9. Selina and the Howlin Dogs featuring Five Points Gang – Rock Bottom Blues –
Reading’s own funky blues rock specialists are back with the first single from their latest album, “Third Time Lucky”. It features special guests Joe Pearson and Dinho Barral from Five Point Gang, and is in part inspired by that band’s life on the road. https://www.selinaandthehowlindogs.com/
10. The Go Go Cult – Black is the Colour of My Love –
This is the title track from Reading-based gothabilly merchants The Go Go Cult’s latest waxing, released just last month. A frantic slice of dark intoxication, as Nige contemplates the dark place he’s in, and how he’s going to deal with it. http:// www.thegogocult.com
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
