this is Brighton offers a critical view of what's hot for the coming week.

The Starting Line, Concorde 2, Brighton, Monday, September 19
- Life for this punk-pop combo began with an email which read: "My name is Matt. I live about 20 minutes from you. I checked out your AOL profile. You like a lot of cool bands." And so began a beautiful relationship between the band members. The Philadelphia four were signed while still at school and their debut album sold 300,000 copies. They have been on the road since 2002, so it's safe to presume they have live performing down to a fine art. Starts 7.30pm, tickets cost £10. Call 01273 673311.

The Jon Spencer Blues Expolsion, Concorde 2, Brighton, Tuesday, September 20
- New York City's skuzz-blues impresario Jon Spencer has been deconstructing and reconstructing rock 'n' roll with the help of guitarist Judah Bauer and drummer Russell Simins for the best part of a decade. His sort of blues is the down and dirty, hot and sweaty, dirty old man kind. Make what you will of the band's name, what they actually do is take blues, soul, funk, hip-hop and rock and dice them up into a steaming musical stew. Starts 7.30pm, tickets cost £12. Call 01273 673311.

Mew, Concorde 2, Madeira Drive, Brighton, Wednesday, September 21
- With voices like honey, these Scandinavian melodic rockers promise an exhilarating evening of full-on but beautiful music. Their latest album, Mew And The Glass Handed Kites, is their fourth which they describe as: "An eccentric 60 minute rock headf***, flinging musical ideas, distorted nightmare images and heartbreak choruses at the listener." If our dreams had a soundtrack, this would be it. Starts 7pm, tickets £8.50. Call 01273 673311.

Magic Bullet Band, Pressure Point, Brighton, Thursday, September 22
- Talented trio The Magic Bullet Band are a free-spirited, uplifting, super-tight blend of country pop and good old fashioned R 'n' B, reminiscent of Crosby Stills and Nash. American frontman Andy Nixon (drum tutor at BIMM) plays the drums in cool, West Coast style and sings like a dream. Andy has toured with the likes of Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morisette, Reef, Gomez and Feeder across the globe and his experience shows. Ones to watch. Support comes from Loudaphone and The Distance. Starts 8pm. Tickets cost £4/£3. Call 01273 702333.