Heading towards the end of the month, here is part three of our ones to watch, Welsh tips to come shortly. It’s a diverse selection of artists and bands, all burning with emerging talent. Read and listen below!

Wax Head

Wax Head are a drummer-fronted punk quartet from Manchester. Their first EP Salt Fat Acid Heat, was mastered by JJ Golden (Ty Segall, Osees) and they are a whirlwind of garage psych and punk energy. To be fair, any band that has a crowd member end up with their head through the drumkit, and then use the photo of said incident as a single cover image is class. Please note, the crowd member was fine! Wax Head are feral punk rock with their mosh pits taking up the whole room, in whatever size they play. Sweaty chaos will ensue and don’t think just because singer Lewis is on the drumkit he can’t crowd surf. (Julia Mason)

Cardinals

Cork indie pioneers Cardinals fuse intense shoegaze with Irish trad tropes. Here at GIITTV Towers, we have been championing them since 2022 seeing them play at tiny venues above pubs to supporting Fontaines D.C. at Finsbury Park- they are rising stars and we can’t wait for the release of their debut album Masquerade, set to land on February 13th via So Young Records. Dark, fierce emotive and introspective, it’s a record that is at once grand and intimate, awash with romance and flickers of holy imagery, These are emotionally expansive songs, some simmering with an undercurrent of violence, cynicism or fervent discontent and others gleaming with a bright-eyed vulnerability. A vivid first half contrasts a darker second; a nod to the band’s collective love of vinyl, that tonal shift takes its cue from a variety of expected and unexpected influences – from the brittle honesty of folk to the theatrical melodrama of goth-rock. Dark, talented and spellbinding, with ‘Masquerade’, they have flung off any shackles to craft something entirely their own. (Carmel Walsh)

Brain Leak

Brain Leak is forged by singer-songwriter, Tara-Gabriella Engelhardt, a Cardiff-raised French/US national now based in Manchester. She is joined by Giulia Bonometti (Working Men’s Club), Jess Branney (Peaness), Sidonie Hand-Halford (Orielles) and Ellie-Rose Elliot (Blanketman). Last year’s brilliant debut EP ‘Put Back Together’, depicted the raw, confessional and fluctuating moods of Englehardt, and how her sharp and emotive songwriting holds a wealth of promise. ‘Trying’ is excellent, switching back and forth between love/hate lullaby, it swings and sways with a self-reflective frustration, destruction and anxiety and pushing ahead with a relationship where the ground is unsteady, and you aren’t sure where you stand, the stop stop percussion and fuzzing riffs are symbolic of the mood, yet in its confessional rawness is intoxicating.

The nagging ‘Save Me‘ is riven with thudding basslines and pours forth with anxious, introspective thoughts it has elements that remind me of the Cure yet filtered through a nu-riot grrl and grunge influence, it was produced by Henry Wade of Orielles in the band’s shared practice room at Islington Mill. ‘Something Skin’ delves deep into distorted deadends, ripe with melodrama with gothic undertones, and twitching emotional peaks and shuddering lows; it reminds one of early PJ Harvey, filtered through trauma and nightmarish visions. It’s hooky and magnetic. She says the EP’s creation was intentionally fragmented; each track shaped in a different sonic setting by a different producer. “It’s a Frankenstein production in the best way,” Engelhardt explains. “This year I wanted to explore my sound, see how other people work, and figure out what I want for the next body of work.” ( Bill Cummings)

Montello

For those that are bemoaning the lack of decent guitar music bands, or at least those that aren’t following the bland indie template which so many seemed to last year, there are still acts out there that are bringing their own wonkiness to make them stand out from the crowd. Wigan’s Montello are but one of those, adding a Coral/Doors moody shonk to proceedings, their five track EP including the atmospheric ‘House On Fire’ and the fantastically-titled ‘The Winter Of Our Discotheque’. Very much ones to keep an eye out for when they come your way, as they have no problem reproducing their vibe live too.(Steven Doherty)

Makeshift Art Bar

Belfast’s Makeshift Art Bar began their 2025 on tour supporting Chalk. It brought them to the attention of many, indeed they have an instant WOW factor when seeing live for the first time. It had been surprising to learn that they had released their debut EP, the wonderfully titled Lackluster Writing Makes Fundamental Reading, on 3 January 2025. The rest of 2025 was a whirlwind of festivals, support slots and a number of headline shows and they are now primed to take it to the next level. They produce a difficult to describe soundscape, but one that is immediately captivating. Full of dense drama and intensity, enthralling and mesmerising aided in part by lead singer Joseph Sweeney’s charismatic performance. Artists are already hoping to support Makeshift Art Bar on tour dates that aren’t even announced yet! (Julia Mason)

Lemonskr

Fierce frenetic, skilled and stylish, Lemonskr describe themselves as ‘for those who like dance but don’t know how. A Lemonskr gig is a cathartic hypnotic rush of dark slanted energy that will raise the roof as the sonics swirl like a whirling dervish, rising, falling undulating and cascading like a hypnotic Kaleidoscope of smoky exotic indie dreams. With energy spanning from darkwave goth to the infectious cyclical indie hooks of ‘Dead Disco’ and the electro backbeats of ‘H.E.A.T’ Lemonskr tracks are like a shot of adrenaline or a hazy fever dream in a Moroccan souk. Laced with high energy Chaabi hooks that raise the crowd into frenzy with their pitch perfect understated confidence. Having released their Debut EP H.E.A.T in October- and gaining a growing cult following in the live scene, it seems like the sky’s the limit – for Lemonskr. Their EP pulses through tales of a supernatural club night massacre all the way into an armed bank robbery embracing the weird and wild, the bleak and the freak. Although a live show of theirs seems wild and chaotic the craftsmanship and stagecraft is undeniable as they jump into the crowd and play from every corner of the room guiding the audience like indie shamans- cowbell included! Their understated confidence impressive intricate musicianship and ability to whip the audience into a frenzy with their high energy driving tracks is a skill that can only...

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