Saturday 1st Santa Carla + Rudy and The Bagpipes; Oxford’s Laima Bite-fronted Santa Carla celebrate the release of their debut album of pleasingly melodic, convincingly straightforward rock-pop songs. Not as goth-y as her other band MarysGarden, but still Cure-ish. Support from the misleadingly named folk-punk singer Rudy and The Bagpipes. The Bullingdon; 7:15pm 

Sunday 2nd

Monday 3rd

Tuesday 4th

Wednesday 5th HööF; Sundaughter; Lots Of; HööF’s songs are twistyly arranged, dynamic, charismatically-sung, surprising little pop gems that are very hooky and very fun of course – my favourite band of the last few years. They bring with them Reading’s Sundaughter and their laconically-fronted, concisely propulsive indie-rock, and Lots Of, who are even harder than the headliners to Google. ‘lots of band’? ‘lots of music’? ‘lots of Oxford’? I gave up. The Bullingdon; 7pm

Thursday 6th 

Friday 7th Molly Gone Mad + Lionhaire; Big-voiced, earnest pop-rock from Hereford. I like the more introspective things on thier debut album ‘Prologue’ but it’s really focussed on thier stabs at ‘anthemic’, which are somewhat convincing and endearing even to an old cynic like me. They clearly want it – go along and see if they can get it. The Bullingdon; 7pm RA.CO; 

Saturday 8th Lunar Kites; Like a 1980s Hawkwind if all of their songs were 4-5 minutes long. Tap Social; 8pm; Free

Sunday 9th Nighttime + El Winstanley + Codiad Y Môr ; Divine Schism’s first gig of the month is a doozy of course, headline by extremely cool, atmospheric songs that seem to bore directly into you but are also quite goofy. Also quiet, whimsical outsider folk songs in English and Spanish from El Winstanley and extra-primitive guitar from Codiad Y Môr; The Library; 6pm

Monday 10th

Tuesday 11th

Wednesday 12th

Thursday 13th

Friday 14th TTNG + Crash Of Rhinos + Other Half + SLAG ; Extremely stacked bill of Big Scary Monsters alum celebrating the Oxford label’s 25th anniversary featuring the original twiddly emo-rockers This Town Needs Guns, unlabel-like post-rock from Crash Of Rhinos, Fugazi- and Sonic Youth-influenced pop songs from recent BSM success story Other Half, and one of their newest signings SLAG. Come celebrate an Oxford music institution and our best new venue! (it’s sold out but get on the waiting list, go on) The Nest; 6:30pm | Marlia Rae; I listened to the first few seconds of Rae’s song ‘Name In Lights’ in which she sings, right at the beginning, that it will ‘make me want to move’. Tap Social; Free; 8pm;

Saturday 15th 

Sunday 16th

Monday 17th

Tuesday 18th The Popguns; August is a quiet month for gigs, as is traditional, but seeing this one nearly made me fall off my chair. C86 indie of the kind that every other young band is playing these days, but these guys have been doing it since, well, 1986, and their first drummer was the drummer on George Best (I bet they get annoyed when people bring that up, sorry). But seriously, go listen to their Britpop-prediciting 1991 album Snog and go see them. The Jericho; 7:30

Wednesday 19th Greg Coulson; Haven Club bring Northampton’s Greg Coulson to town to do some blues stuff; The Bullingdon; 7pm

Thursday 20th Youthmovies; Olive Wreath; He Didn’t; Another hotly anticipated noughties-Oxford reunion this month in the shape of influential rock band Youthmovies. Knotty, noisy fragments of songs stitched together, at turns Tortoise-like in their instrumental precision, then a bit of a post-Britpop indie guitar song, then, whisper it, a bit of prog. Supporting at this Divine Schism show comes from the laid-back hyper-pop of Olive Wreath, and industrial noise from He Didn’t; The Bullingdon; 7pm

Friday 21st The Hunnymooners + Flip Phone + Midas; Young people playing a mixture of covers and originals, because that’s what you do at that age – go along and see someone get their start. [editors note – I imagine Flip Phone consider a Flip Phone to be a glamorous prehistoric or perhaps even futuristic object, something out of Star Trek, but I was almost exactly their age when I found a chewed-up one abandoned at a bus stop in Salford, Greater Manchester]; The Bullingdon; 6:30

Saturday 22nd The Selecter; Pauline Black’s pioneering ska revival survivors keep on reviving and surviving; The Academy; 7pm | The Jolly Grogsters; Recent Nightshift (RIP) cover stars play sea shanties with some original songs thrown in. Festival-hardened, they do know how to party, if that’s your thing; Tap Social; 8pm; Free

Sunday 23rd The Mighty Redox + Osprey + Mojo Demon + Tony & Sal; More surviving and partying here from Oxford stalwarts The Mighty Redox playing their feel-good jams and story songs; The Tree; 3:30pm

Monday 24th

Tuesday 25th

Wednesday 26th

Thursday 27th BCUC: Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness; Proper stuff from this 7-piece band from Soweto. Psych, groove, protest, it’s all there; The Bullingdon; 7pm | Brook Ellingworth; Country music from Oxford; Tap Social; 8pm; Free

Friday 28th Big Truck; Laurie Vincent from Soft Play in a softer, more whimsical setting – self-consciously goofy indie pop songs; Truck Store; 6pm; Free | Penny Ante + My Liberal Pony + Only The Brave; Gappy Tooth Industries back at it’s original home for a limited time only – go see three GTI first-timers including the indie rock of Oxford’s Penny Ante and the electronica of Berkshire’s My Liberal Pony; The Jericho Tavern; 8pm | Wilderness States; “a potentially excellent band in the making” – Nightshift Magazine; Tap Social; 8pm; Free

Saturday 29th Michael Ball; The West End star is touring his new pop-rock album Glow, written with industry heavyweights like Amy Wadge, who co-wrote Thinking Out Loud with Ed Sheeran – an admirable effort even thought I don’t really want to listen to it, and as before I object to being told to expect “the best night of my life” from the opening number. Have Fugazi reformed? Is Ornette Coleman coming to town? Has Ben Britten written a new piece for guitar? then don’t talk to me. He was a great, psychopathic Sweeney Todd though, so I thought I’d give him the honor of being included here, and I mean it sincerely when I say, best of luck to him. The New Theatre; 7:30pm

Sunday 30th

Monday 31st