I am old and rather set in my ways, so at Download, I very rarely visit the multicoloured sugar rushtastic bouncy castle of pop punk fun that is the Avalanche stage. However now and again, an act will tempt me to forget my age and aching limbs to skip joyously past the wrestling into the very heart of the young people's neon fortress. This year, it will be the quite magnificent Black Peaks that will make me venture into places that really no 46 year old should tread. Black Peaks are bloody fantastic and possess an aura of arrogance or self confidence that you only get when a band knows that they are on to something special but also have the tunes. They are a true post Spotify band in that they undertake a smash and grab raid on a plethora of highly diverse influences and cultural touchstones. There is just so much in their music that it manages to defy any attempts to label and characterise it.  But don't take my word for it, go check them out yourself!

By Stewart Lucas