Grizzly Bear, Midlake, Camera Obscura & Villagers - June 25

It's shaping up to be a veritable World Cup of indie-rock at the Marquee as Grizzly Bear, Midlake, Villagers and Camera Obscura come together under the Harmonic banner.

Headliners Grizzly Bear have carved out a unique place in the alt.rock firmament, with their second LP Veckatimest (named after an island off the coast of Cape Cod). Drawing on the preppy quintet's classical backgrounds, the LP combines folk, electronica and soundtrack composition, to create music that steers a gracious course between The Beach Boys and Ennio Morricone.

Second on the bill are Midlake, a Texas five-piece whose influences run from vintage Fleetwood Mac to late '60s English neo folk. They broke through with 2007’s The Trials of Van Occupanther and the Theme From M*A*S*H-esque, 'Roscoe'. This year’s The Courage Of Others LP has already been widely acclaimed.

Also appearing are Villagers, the alias under which Dubliner Conor O'Brien creates his wonderful brand of Radiohead-esque alt.pop. Released on the influential Domino Records, Villagers first album, Becoming A Jackal, is deservedly ratcheting up reams of five star reviews.

Meanwhile, Camera Obscura are surely the best chamber pop band to have come from Glasgow – a category that includes the highly influential Belle and Sebastian.

DID YOU KNOW?
• Grizzly Bear’s drummer is named Ed Bear. This is a coincidence. Ed Droste started the band before Bear joined.
• They toured with Radiohead in 2008. On stage, Jonny Greenwood described them as his favourite band.
• Midlake are from Denton, Texas, which is also the home town of Norah Jones.
• Conor O’Brien’s last band was The Immediate, who split after releasing one album, In Towers And Clouds.
• Camera Obscura’s biggest single 'Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken' was a response to Lloyd Cole's 'Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?'