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A look at some essential up-and-comers joining the likes of The Beta Band, Stereolab and Ty Segall at this year’s festival. |
| Photos of Manchester Psych Fest 2026 by Hazel Blacher | Words: Elvis Thirlwell |
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For over a decade now, Manchester Psych Fest has been spreading its psilocybin-dipped wings to become a genuine hotspot, not only for international psych superstars, but for the fiercest, hottest new alternative music from across Britain and beyond. |
This year’s headliners are stacked. In this year of historic nationwide drought, Scottish alternative legends The Beta Band’s sentiments on ‘Dry the Rain’ might be bit less welcome than usual (especially from any one growing crops in the nearby area) but witnessing a whole room sing one of the most moreish choruses of all time will be an eye-wateringly beautiful moment. Speaking of 90s legends, Stereolab have been a constant live fixture in recent years, and, with last year’s long-awaited new album ‘Instant Holograms on Metal Film’ still relatively fresh in the memory, have transcended the tag of ‘Heritage act’ and reestablished themselves as an urgent and evolving artistic force. |
The top of the bill just keeps on giving. Ty Segall will be riffing and pitch-bending swampy psychedelic-blues. There will be a queue for spotty microtonal kings Angine De Poitrine. Working Men’s Club will make a much welcome Manchester return as we wait for album three, and Model/Actriz will once again stake their claim as one of the most exhilarating live bands around. Scattered across 12 venues, with film screenings added for good measure (I mean, why shouldn’t I go and watch Becoming Led Zeppelin?), deciding what the fuck to do and when, whilst also remembering to actually eat, will prove more challenging fun than ever before. |
| The crowd at the Projekts Skate Park stage |
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But of course, with us being Hard of Hearing Magazine, the kind of people that see ‘no music on streaming yet’ and lick our lips, our eyes are always drawn to the names lower down the bill, to the greener, fresher face. Because we’re always looking to the future, to see which artists will rise up the ranks and find their own pocket of counter-culture to influence in years to come. And so, here’s five emerging names for you to try and catch at this year’s festival. |
The fact that local Manchester hero Tesni – a member of catbandcat, and dogbanddog – has already opened for Dove Ellis and Little Grandad this year might go some way to indicate the rich and enchanting emotional sensitivities present in her light, frail and frankly beautiful brand of indie-folk. Add to this a delicious clutch of Bandcamp-only teasings of demos and live recordings, and the prospect of her cleansing, heavenly live performances, this set seems all the more unmissable. |
Listen: ‘Nothing’s New Again’ (Bandcamp only release) |
Fire up a raging, high-octane display of heavy-as-fuck drums, heavy-as-fuck electronics, and a frankly sinster use of modulating vocal effects and you have Lttl Mort, one of the most exciting new acts on the circuit. Featuring Opus Kink’s Jazz Pope and a balaclava-clad drummer whose identity remains unknown, the band have become a regular presence at showcases and tastemaker festivals in the past 12 months, slotting grimly into the darker, more explosive end of the electronic-duo boom, drawing comparisons to the likes of SILVERWINGKILLER, Adult DVD and Mount Palomar (all of whom they’re playing shows with, of course).
Listen: Nothing available! |
Heading up our 10 acts we’re excited about in 2026 list, Leeds’ electro-noise punks Bathing Suits have been making headway this year, and yep, we’re still excited about them. Their first recorded statement, the ‘KILL BATHING SUITS’ EP, set down a marker earlier this year, but only goes some of the way to capturing an absolutely memorable live show that we can’t stop coming back to: ear-shredding noise guitars, ripping bass-lines, pummelling techno drums and a screeching vocalist who bounces off the walls, leaps into the crowd, swishes her bleach-blonder locks and hangs off the ceiling wherever she can. An absolute must see band that get better every time we catch them. |
Listen: ‘Empathy’ (the full seven-minute verson c’mon now) |
Travelling the hard yards all the way up from Penryn, Cornwall, The Heavenly Bodes are flying the flag for a fresh wave of fuzzy garage-rock rolling up from South-West. Released earlier this summer via the ever-reliable psych label Fuzz Club, the quartet’s recent album ‘Green Hills’gives a well-rounded insight into their strange and distinctive world of thumping psychedelic junkabilly. It feels ‘classic’, ‘retro’, ‘60s’, ‘vintage’ for sure, but with that genuine high-as-a-kite otherworldiness that can only suggest some 4th, 5th, or even 6th dimension was also at play in its creation. |
Another prized pick from the riches that currently make up the Leeds DIY scene, TURNSPIT offer a deliberately aloof and magnetic live presence. Talking to the crowd, even looking at them, is frowned upon. The presence of an actual mixer being ‘played’ on the stage is intimidating in an admirable ‘we really know what we’re doing kind of way’. The duo just stand facing each other, make-up glittering, letting their delicious, juicy and hypnotic beats of trip-hop, electronica and cold wave do all the talking. I mean, each one of their tightly curated string of singles to date is immaculate as it is. So just close your eyes, dance, and let yourself be carried away to wherever place nice TURNSPIT are offering (but also don’t spill any of your beer in the process). |
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