Bristol New Music opens its 2026 edition at Strange Brew with two essential projects from the contemporary US underground, each appearing in Bristol for the first time.

Bill Orcutt (Harry Pussy), Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and Ethan Miller (Comets on Fire): a heavyweight US trio operating at the fault line between rock and free improvisation.

Bill Orcutt, incendiary guitarist with seminal ‘90s noise-rock outfit, Harry Pussy brings a ferocious, deconstructed approach to guitar. Steve Shelley, best known as the drummer for Sonic Youth, and on bass, Ethan Miller who has been a central figure in psychedelic and outer-rock movements, and visionary guitarist and vocalist of bands like Comets on Fire. Oakland-based saxophonist, composer and improviser Cole Pulice joins them and crafts luminous, otherworldly compositions at the intersection of cosmic jazz and digital synthesis.

See 2023’s soaring longform electroacoustic odyssey If I Don’t See You in the Future, I’ll See You In the Pasture or latest album Land’s End Eternal, which expands their compositional palette beyond signal-processed saxophone to include layers of electric guitar and lush choral arrangements

Presented by Bristol New Music and Strange Brew

No age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)