I've been living here for a long while now and have found a decent amount of smaller acts to go and see, usually more of the ambient/instrumental type, and a few venues to keep an eye on that allow me to discover new bands and artists of that ilk. BUT what I've not been able to do is find any interesting, forward thinking rock/metal bands playing at that same smaller level. The last proper rock band I discovered of that size was probably Bo Ningen and that was a good few years ago now, who have since graduated to big festival slots and decent capacity spaces. So who could you recommend? And are there any pubs/small venues/promoters that consistently have good taste as far as their bookings? Anything from dreamy, My Vitriol-esque indie rock through catchy, wiry punk/hardcore to grind/sludge/thrash/crust/stoner/death/whatever, really, as long as it's good and not too stale.
Much obliged, DiS.