Helicon

Helicon play La Belle Angele on Friday 19 February, with special guests Sarah/Shaun opening the night. It's a psych-rock bill in the heart of Edinburgh, and the headliners bring a sound that's as heavy as the name suggests.

Helicon come from East Kilbride, where brothers John-Paul and Gary Hughes started the band back in 2009. They've spent the years since building a following around a particular kind of noise, and they're not shy about how they describe it: they call themselves 'doom-mongering behemoths of psychedelic rock'. If that sounds like a bit of a mouthful, it's a fair shorthand for what they do — the 'doom' points to the heavier, slower end of the spectrum, and the 'psychedelic' is where the textures and the trips come in. It's the kind of music that takes its time and isn't afraid to get loud.

With Sarah/Shaun on support, there's a full evening of live music on the bill. The headliners are the main draw here, and they'll be taking the stage at La Belle Angele on a Friday night, so it's a gig that fits easily into a weekend. If you're familiar with the psych-rock scene, you'll know the territory they're working in — the sort of thing that sits somewhere between the heavy riffs of the stoner-rock tradition and the more expansive, trippy side of the psychedelic tradition.

Tickets are £17.03, which includes the booking fee, and the night kicks off at 7:30pm. With Sarah/Shaun warming up the room first, it's a full run of live music from start to finish.