Seven bands you need to see at Simple Things 2016

Idles

Idles are fast becoming Bristol's hottest export - and it's easy to see why. The rowdy quintet take aim at the foibles of 21st century Britain, twisting the knife into dark crevices and sprinkling salt in open wounds, and they do so with impish glee, skittering between raucous hedonism and brutal fury. Frontman Joe Talbot's words are acidic and wrly charming and smeared across a lawless melee - Idles are vicious and violent and vibrant, swaggering across the stage with ruthless confidence... it's enormous fun. This is a band on the cusp of greatness.

Catch Idles at The Sportsman's Club.

Dot Product

Bristol-based producers Adam Winchester and Chris Jarman experiment with the limits of sound under the guise of Dot Product, a project "based around sounds derived from frequencies and anomalies commonly inaudible to the human ear." Using field samples and concept-heavy ideas, the avant-garde noiseniks shunt the boundaries of electronica to delve into Vantablack shadows. Dot Product spew out abstract, tormented plumes of sound - it's a thoroughly engrossing experience.

Catch Dot Product at The Lantern.

Iglooghost

Teenage designer/producer Iglooghost, signed to Flying Lotus' label Brainfeeder, doesn't really make music you can put into words. It's electronic, erratic, chaotic, lush and organic and stuffed with contrasting ideas - almost like PC Music or Gilligan Moss, but torn apart and reassembled with bizarre samples jammed into the gaps. The Bath-based artist eschews conventions and leaps headfirst into his own worlds, conjuring his own reality instead of squishing his ideas into ours.

Catch Iglooghost at The Firestation in the afternoon.

Rink

Gothic-pop group Rink are are invigorating prospect. The Bristol bunch sit neatly next to Nicole Dollanganger on the shelf, using dramatic contrasts to great effect, with both light and dark battling for supremacy in the music. Eponymous ode "Rink" is a waltz in half-time, with radio-static harmonies and beguiling vox from Emily Isherwood cleaving the shadows in two.

Catch Rink at The Gryphon.

Cousin Kula

Cousin Kula are on the up in Bristol, with their psych-pop offerings piquing interests across the city (and beyond). Recent single "Hesitation", produced by Jim Barr (Portishead), is a supercharged pop cut with rampant percussion, brittle falsetto, rubbery grooves, and wiry riffs that instantly infect your brain. They've already nabbed support slots with the likes of Dutch Uncles and The Kooks - it's only a matter of time before they become national, not just local, favs.

Catch Cousin Kula on The Foyer stage at Colston Hall.

Horsebeach

Manchester's Ryan Kennedy leads Horsebeach into a pastel-shaded paradise full of sunny melodies and glittery bedroom-pop. The band will ensnare your heart with jangly C86-isms and warm '80s vibes – Kennedy's spoken about the influence of Real Estate in the past – and if you're looking for something a little more chilled out ahead of the evening's pummelling punk and delirious dance, head down to catch Horsebeach.

Catch Horsebeach on The Foyer stage at Colston Hall.

Bayonne

Texan producer Bayonne is inspired by Eric Clapton and Phil Collins - but don't expect any retro riffs or '70s prog.; Bayonne's weapon of choice is celestial electro.

"Most of these songs came out of me just fucking around, hooking up keyboards and experimenting," says Bayonne of his upcoming City Slang LP Primitives. The results are intense and meticulously detailed, with thick layers assembled from his arsenal of loops - loops that he recreates live (see above for a taste of what to expect from his set). Bayonne promises to be on of the more leftfield additions to the noisy festival, and will no doubt light up cavernous atrium at Colston Hall.

Catch Bayonne on The Foyer stage at Colston Hall.