THERE does seem to be a up-swell of strangeness going on in town at the moment. Last week saw the marvellously unique, cinematic, drone infused art attacks of Stereocilia sneak into the parish for a small but well-attended show, and tonight those lovely chaps at Liquid Lounge, who have been responsible for some really artistically left field musical events over the past few months, bring more oddness to The Victoria.

Fort Boyard! promise much more than 90s French endurance game show references; expect punkadelic improv and synth-dub experimentation. Support comes from the schizophrenic blends of sonic brutalism and anti-folk acoustica of Tremelo Ghosts and the fuzz drenched noise-scapes of Zero Gravity Tea Ceremony, who you have to love for the name alone.

I know this isn’t going to be everybody’s cup of darjeeling but I think, as lunatic fringes go, I’m glad that the town is getting weird around the edges again.

And moving from the sonically surreal to the truly wondrous, Sun and The Rain Men bring their own smooth brand of Swedish indie-soul and finessed folk to The Tuppenny. They were last seen in town as part of the Buswell album launch package at the Arts Centre earlier in the year and, indeed, the man at the heart of that night will be the opening act this time around.

Tomorrow, The Castle has a real gem of a local, original gig which sees Plummie Racket and The Dicemen hit the boards. Born of a clash of Brit Pop swagger and punk attitude, the band have since evolved into a more forward looking, incendiary indie onslaught, more nuanced for sure, but without sacrificing the energy and live chaos which put them on the map in the first place.

Joining them is the exquisitely unique Kid Calico and The Astral Ponies, a strange weave of music hall psychedelia and sideways Americana…imagine The E Street Band reinterpreting Tom Waits songs! Opening the night is the lyrically deft and musically dexterous Matty Bryant.

Elsewhere rock is well served, firstly with Barrelhouse at The Groves Company and also by The Bryan Adams Experience at The Victoria. The former is a hard grooving, foot on the monitor vintage rock and blues outfit torchbearers for both classic Chicago blues and the early pioneers of the British blues scene, the latter... well, I’m sure you can work it out.

The Castle has Over The Hill on Saturday, a band of, as the name suggests, seasoned musicians revelling in all your favourite covers from the 50s to the present day.

And talking of over the hill, The Chaos Brothers are back out on musical manoeuvres (it’s just a joke guys!!) and can be found laying waste to The Queen’s Tap with an arsenal of punk, garage rock and, ironically, the odd bit of glam (it’s another joke guys)!

Covers of a wider ranging nature can be found at The Victoria with Last Call, specialists in everything from hard rock, nu-metal, pop-punk, indie, alternative, drum 'n' bass, hip hop, and so much more…apparently. Support comes from Bite The Hand who describe themselves as “being men, doing men things” and who musically run the musical gamut from rock to metal!

The Daybreakers can be found at The Groves Company Inn, a blend of punked up folkery, alt-acoustica and rootsy shenanigans, everything from The Pogues Celtic chaos to The Levellers new age folk-rock to whatever the hell it was that The Violent Femmes did! Meanwhile Tap History bring a well-balanced menu of pop and rock covers to The Hayden Wick Club.

The altruistic spirit is out in force on Sunday as The Victoria is the setting for a charity fund raiser in aid of children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent and MIND. Music comes from AT-IT, apparently a band that never was playing classic tracks from an album which was never released. I’m not sure what that all means but I think they need a new publicist!

Drew Bryant is at The Castle, well-honed acoustica infused with a wide range of influences and songs which wander between the delicate and engaging and raw and raucous.

And finally, on Wednesday, something a bit special hits the stage of The Victoria. Adam Bomb is the embodiment of rock and roll. Having worked with true rock legends from Hanoi Rock’s Michael Monroe to Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Adam is all about the live show.

Big riffs, rock swagger and unlimited showmanship, and no small amount of pyrotechnics. Not to be missed.