I first heard about Shanty Town a couple of weeks ago when I was trawling through the schedule for In The City. I was lucky enough to catch them on the closing night of ITC at the SJM Showcase (thanks Will) and I have to say they were nothing short of brilliant, especially since one of the songs had only been finished that day.

Hailing from Salford, this musically ambitious quintet only have a handful of songs (that I know about) but armed with those they’re definately something to write home about. A particular favourite of mine is ‘Sit down and take a drag’ – by far the softest of all the tracks up on their MySpace, it’s filled with melodic guitar riffs and poignant vocals from lead singer Edde. I have been listening to this song on repeat since I first found it, I expect many of you will do the same.

Shanty Town are playing in Manchester on 20th November at the Academy, then on the 10th December at Clint Boon’s Xmas Army Party.

For more info visit: http://www.myspace.com/asalfordshantytown