NOT too much to get through this week and obviously the offerings are of a more mainstream and accessible nature, after all no one wants an avant garde, dystopian, post-rock band as the soundtrack to their works shindig. Well, no one except me.

At The Victoria you can catch Phlemmy’s Christmas Karaoke, a night of seasonal shenanigans and mischief in the main venue itself.

Ideal for work parties or anyone looking for one last big knees up. It’s Wacky Wednesday with bells on… literally.

Meanwhile if you are looking for a slice of original music then you can do no better than head for The Tuppenny to catch Pete Gow. The newest bar in town has managed to bag one of the most lauded names on the British-Americana circuit today. Normally found fronting the brilliant Case Hardin but take the band away and the songs become even more intimate and compelling. Support comes from the mercurial Buswell.

Friday is offering up a couple of options drawn from an older time. Firstly at The Rolleston the Corsairs’ melting pot of rockabilly, punk, ska and rock’n’roll provide a groove laden, beat driven jive oasis for those who like to cut a rug of a vintage nature.

At The Victoria, Peleton also mine a musical seam of rich retro gems, their penchant being more of a power-pop, northern soul and new wave but with a sprinkling of tunes from beyond those generic limitations. A cracking live band and a great choice of classic cuts.

For Christmas Eve the rowdiest party in town can be found at The Rolleston as the Mick O’Toole clan hit the parish. If you are looking for a slightly different take on a Christmas knees-up then why not try a cider swilling, celtic-punk, jig-tastic, roaring musical beast of a party. If you are one of those people who likes to point out that Christmas festivities are built on pagan traditions, then this is the perfect place to be.

If something more in keeping with the season is required then the Victoria offers an evening of Christmas sing-alongs, mulled wine, fancy dress and seeing in the main day in style. Don’t drink too much, Yule be sorry in the morning! (Recycling rubbish jokes for a more sustainable world since 2010.) And once the usual family celebration/arguments and working out what you are going to buy with the gifts you plan to return are done, and you have used Boxing Day to sleep off the body weight of food that you have eaten, there is more to come.

On Tuesday, one of my favourite bands of recent times has their not quite Christmas, not quite New Year “Ye Olde Purple Peculiar” gathering at The Beehive. Kid Calico and The Astral Ponies are a wonderful blend of Victorian music hall, Americana, psychedelia and folky tunes. But it is their quintessentially English eccentricities which mark them out from the crowd, their strange sartorial choices and their biscuit fixations. Come for the music, stay for the Viennese Whirls….and probably cravats.

Meanwhile, The Bright Eyes will be bringing their cross genre, all styles, era-hopping party to The Rolleston.

And if you are still going by Wednesday you can still catch karaoke at The Victoria’s long established Wacky Wednesday or head to The Beehive to find four of Swindon’s finest musicians reconvening to continue the saga of Cartoon Heroes.