In The Know: The Amazons' Matt Thomson picks his fave up-and-comers from Reading & Leeds 2019

There are always more bands - the biggest question is who do you listen to when it comes to recommendations? Obviously, Dork should be your first port of call, but there are others too. This month we ask The Amazons frontman Matt Thomson for his top picks from this year's Reading & Leeds line-up.

SWMRS are playing the Festival Republic Stage, I believe. They’re good friends of ours and a really interesting band. The production on their new album ‘Berkeley’s on Fire’ feels fresh. We’ve had it on repeat the last couple months. There are some whispers of The Cure and Eels on there.

The Chats were introduced to us by our Australian guitar tech a few months ago. They’re a super raw, Australian punk band who have mullets, wear flip flops and make ridiculously fun two-minute songs. We’ve been spontaneously chanting the choruses of their songs ‘Pub Feed’ and ‘Smoko’ to the point of infuriation of the people around us.

We played with The Mysterines at a couple of shows back in February, and they really impressed us. The lead singer has a presence on stage and the most ferocious voice. They’re like a tougher, meaner Hole. I think they’re touring Royal Blood soon, so things seem to be happening with them.