This Newcastle four-piece formed last summer but extensive gigging has already seen plenty of people sit up and take notice of their idiosyncratic ways and means – and with little wonder.

There’s a real rumble to Marginal Gains’ sound. A kind of wired, underlying “Rrrr”, that forms the perfect canvas for them to weave their half-sung/half-yelped/half-spat lyrical concerns. The band consist of Dan (vocals), Charlotte (guitar/vocals), Ashleigh (bass, vocals) and Roberta (drums), and together they feel super-tight as they hammer together a peculiar melange of art-rock and caffeinated post-punk. The sleeve of their last EP – Context – shows a woodcut illustration of a lad and a lass chucking bricks through windows, which feels apt as the band take pot-shots at all manner of things – often in their own oblique way – through their lyrics. One of Teesside’s finest, Benefits, have already given Marginal Gains their seal of approval (“Class band”) and I reckon a lot more people are going to be weighing in with nods of approval over the coming months. DP

Seek: linktr.ee/marginalgains