IT’S certainly a quieter week all round, I guess a month packed with mini-festivals and community gatherings plus the recent bank holiday has soaked up most people’s disposable income.

There also doesn’t seem to be a lot of information to be found on the interweb thingy regarding gigs and events, there is something rather self-defeating about venues whose pages extol their love and support of live music but whose event listings are two weeks out of date. Even Alanis Morissette couldn’t recall anything that ironic! Still you work with what you have got. And this is what I have got.

Tonight, as is usual, is the place for original music fans to get their kicks. Indie Kids and Scenesters will want to be at the Victoria tonight for The Night of The Ocelot which this month features three real bands of the moment.

And of course I use the word Scenester in a positive way, for even though jaded guys in Oasis tee-shirts moaning into their real ale might have you believe that “nothing ever happens round ‘ere any more, “ there is a really vibrant indie scene building in Swindon at the moment, you can almost feel that cyclical wave ready to break again.

Misfires lead the charge, a slick blend of shimmering guitars and pop sensibilities, The Sulks play with wider, almost neo-psychedelic, sonic pallet and GETRZ thread some deft post-punk references through a forward thinking take on widescreen indie.

Those with a penchant for something harder, heavier and more confrontational should head to Level III where things get loud. London’s Diesel King blend primal riffs with a thunderous low end to create a sound that suggests Sabbath sinking into quicksand...in a good way, obviously. Dead Man’s Bastard take a similar sludgy, guttural route, Eden Falls are the right blend of dark and light, groove and growl and Eyesnomouth set a doom laden tone right from the start.

Truckstop Lizard can be found at The Sun at Coate. Now, their on line presence has an anonymity normally reserved winners of The Voice but based on Nashville style shirts and Telecaster guitars I am going to suggest something in the region of country, bluegrass and Americana and looking at the people involved predict that musicianship will be second to none.

Friday sees Felix and The Funk hit The Victoria with their usual stall of fearless funk grooves, disco classics, sassy soul, pop and reggae, everything you are going to need to get the party underway and a chance to wander back through the chapter of the musical record labelled “Just Dance!”

Dance grooves of a weirder sort can be found at The Beehive as Sex Jazz return with their staccato, Zappa-esque, insect fixated musical salvos which wander between pot-headed oddness and sheer musical genius.

Slick covers from an experienced and vibrant band can be found at The Groves Company Inn with Audio Asylum, a mix of iconic rock and more carefully selected choice cuts delivered in their own inimitable style.

Rock is also the theme for Saturday and one of the most original offerings can be found at Level III with Danze Macabre. Theirs is a mix of the symphonic and gothic, the melodic and the dramatic, the light and the shade. Old school goths, classic rockers, melodic metallers, lovers of the fantastic, the otherworldly, dreamweavers and other creatures of the night should not miss this. Endeavour brings a brilliant progressive metal vibe to the night and Swindon’s own Ghost of Machines adds a touch of dystopian glamour.

Tributes abound too, at The Victoria you can celebrate the most singular and influential rock band of the modern era, a mix of punk, trash and speed metal, but all you need to know is that they “are Motorheadache and they play rock ‘n’ roll!” Southern rock is on the cards at The Groves Company Inn with Aynt Skynyrd.

The Dirty Outlaws bring their uncompromising brand of street punk, raw, visceral rock and Oi! To The Rolleston and The Locomotive opts for a history lesson in vintage blues from urban Chicago sounds to more pastoral delta vibes with Built For Comfort.

Finally at The Steam Railway you will find The Rock Bottoms performing a wide range of covers and, if you are lucky, a few from their own back catalogue which includes bands such as The Misers, Merrymouth and Ocean Colour Scene.