Music maestro Alex Flood picks out the best of the live gigs on offer in Norwich this month.

A host of cracking artists, new and old, are stopping off in the Mustard City this month. Alex Flood looks at May's Norwich gig highlights.

·Pulled Apart By Horses – OPEN – May 1

Having finished work on their third full length album, the Leeds rockers will air new material for the first time in two years during a short UK tour in May and June. Calling the slew of live dates 'some much needed exercise', the post-hardcore experimentalists hope to get right back into the swing of things after some well-earned rest in 2013 spent writing their upcoming third record (the follow up to 2012's Tough Love).

·Dum Dum Girls – Norwich Arts Centre – May 5

The intimate venue is set to play host this month to the fiery Dum Dum Girls, as they jet over to the country on a nation-wide tour in support of their latest LP, Too True. The all-female, Californian trio are purveyors of a brilliant melange of indie pop and shoe-gaze, that has seen them carve out a stellar six year career thus far. With a name that is part homage to Iggy Pop, as well as The Vaseline's 1989 effort Dum Dum, expect rock 'n' roll fireworks and a plethora of snarling spitting felines.

·Billy Ocean – St Andrew's Hall – May 6

In recent years, smooth-soul icon, Billy Ocean, has cleaned up on the legends circuit, and this month marks a rare opportunity to see him in Norwich. Known for his string of international R&B hits in the early-to-mid-eighties, including 'Are You Ready?' and 'When the Going Gets Tough', Ocean, real name Leslie Sebastian Charles, is sure to put on an outstanding show come May 6.

·Courtney Barnett – Waterfront Studio - May 13

One of the most promising artists of 2014, the Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett has released two EPs of tongue-in-cheek, slacker-rock pop music and gained notable attention from the music press for a sensational live act. Coming over from Melbourne in May for her first headline British tour, Barnett should be checked out as soon as possible.

·S. Carey – NAC – May 21

Sean Carey, otherwise known under the moniker S. Carey, has long lived under the shadow of fellow bandmate Justin Vernon and the enormous success of the Grammy award-winning Bon Iver. His solo effort, the catalyst for two full length albums and one EP of blissful indie folk music, has often gone unnoticed; but with the recent release of Range of Light on Jagjaguwar records this April, a world tour beckons, and perhaps even greater exposure.

·Mr Scruff – Epic Studios – May 22

A seemingly perpetual presence on the road, British electronic music producer and trip hop dynamo Mr Scruff returns to Norwich on May 22 at Epic studios for a night of baggy beats and nu-jazz house that is sure to get the building shaking like a late-nineties warehouse rave. With newest record, Friendly Bacteria, out on Ninja Tune on May 19 the night will be the perfect opportunity to hear some new material, which DJ Andrew Carthy (aka. Mr Scruff) has promised will display, 'a stripped-back musicality, a depth that hasn't been there before.' Whatever happens, expect bass-induced mania to envelop Epic studios on May 22, and to not leave until the early hours.

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