Camens

Camens play The Sugarmill on Friday 12 February, a home show for the four-piece guitar band from Stoke. They're one of the city's own, and this is a headline date in their own backyard.

They've moved quickly since their debut album, Work/Life/Balance, which hit number nine in the UK charts. The follow-up, Los Karma, was written and recorded within a year of that first record, and part of it came together during a week in the Spanish mountains with producer Andy Gannon, who's worked with the Courteeners, Justin Hawkins and Kyle Falconer. 'Anything to Win' is the first single from that second album, released via UNCOMMON SENSE, and the band describe it as a bolder, more cinematic turn towards swaggering alternative indie pop, shaped by Queens of the Stone Age desert rock and Josh Homme-era Arctic Monkeys.

That's a fair bit of ground to cover from their early days. Their debut single 'Boys Will Stray' was called by BBC Radio 6's Gideon Coe 'a well recorded strong debut', and they've had plenty of support from local BBC Introducing presenter Rob Adcock, who's named them record of the week more than once. Steve Lamacq championed their single 'Danny DeVito' on BBC Radio 6, so there's a good few songs from that first era to run alongside the newer material.

General admission is £14.50 including fees, with a £1.50 booking fee and a £1.00 venue restoration fee on top. Doors open at 00:00 at The Sugarmill, 36 Brunswick Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent (ST1 1DR).