this is brighton offers a critical view of what's hot for the coming week: Magnolia Electric Company, Miss Pain, Mark Mulcahy, Melle Mel, Reel Big Fish and Selfish C***.

Magnolia Electric Company, Hanbury Ballroom, St George's Road, Brighton, 29 May
There is an air of melancholy to this band's countryrock dirges which detail regret, heartbreak and a tendency to hit the road when the going gets tough.

Fans of Jason Molina's previous incarnation, Songs:Ohia won't be disappointed with the similar mix of impassioned vocals, free roaming guitar solos and country twang. The ideal soundtrack for the heartbroken. Support comes from Elephant Micah.

Starts 7pm, tickets cost £8/£6, call 01273 605789.

Miss Pain, Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton, 30 May
A Brighton-based electro-glam rock trio bearing lead singer Sarah's real, if conveniently dominatrixsounding, name. Their shows are full of high drama, sleazy duets and glamour. Their sexy electronic sound is influenced by the likes of Serge Gainsborough, Roxy Music and The Cramps.

Debut single E.B.F.H. is an ode to flammable nightwear and and has been picked out for airplay by Radio One's Steve Lamacq and XFM's John Kennedy.

Starts 3pm, tickets cost £5, call 01273 673311.

Mark Mulcahy, Sussex Arts Club, Ship Street, Brighton, 1 June
This singer-songwriter was the frontman for Miracle Legion, the folk rockers Radiohead's Thom Yorke loved so much he once travelled from Oxford to London just to pick up a copy of their album. He went solo in 1998 and developed a sensitive, layered sound that has been much compared to Jeff Buckley.

Support from Caramel Jack and Tremulous Monk.

Starts 7.30pm, tickets cost £7.50/£6.50, call 01273 778020.

Melle Mel & Scorpio, Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton, 1 June
Old skool hip-hop dude who influenced most later additions to the genre, including the party grooves of Young M.C. and the militant political rap of Ice-T.

Melle Mel was the first MC recruited by Grandmaster Flash for the Furious Five, and his distinctive vocal style soon became a familiar sound of the Eighties, heard in numbers such as The Message and White Lines.

Since splitting from the outfit, he has stayed rapping and producing with members of the Furious Five.

Starts 9pm, tickets cost £10, call 01273 673311.

Reel Big Fish, Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton, 2 June
High spirited lads from Southern California who bound around to an infectious ska-punk-pop sound. Their hyperactive stage shows abound with audience banter, juvenile humor, ironic covers of new wave pop songs, and tongue-in-cheek references to their own silliness.

The group cultivated an underground following that broke into the mainstream in 1997, when their single Sell Out became a modern rock radio and MTV favorite.

They have remained steady, if unsensational, ever since.

Starts 7.30pm, tickets cost £10, call 01273 673311.

Selfish C***

Pressure Point, Richmond Place, Brighton, 2 June "It is strong language," says singer Martin Tomlinson about the controversial name of his band, "but we wanted something that would grab people's attention."

As uncompromising in sound as they are in name, this duo deliver abrasive vocals, seething guitars and electronic rhythms. "It is fairly hard going and requires some effort on the listener's part," says Martin, "but it was never intended as run-of-the-mill chart fodder."

Starts 8pm, tickets cost £5.50, call 01273 684501.