Manchester-based quartet Westside Cowboy have only been together since 2023, but have already caused a stir. They have even coined a genre of their own – Britainicana. Even though the name suggests US country with a miserable and sarcastic British twist, they have created something much more fun.
Westside Cowboy @ KOLA, Portsmouth
Energetic alt-rockers Pushbike have ventured all of the way from Exeter today, and guitarist/vocalist Niall Ivie seems adamant that everything will be worth it. He calls tonight’s main event the “best band on the planet”. Perhaps they were paying tribute to Westside Cowboy when they walked onto the stage to Carly Simon’s torrent of passion Nobody Does It Better. It is only appropriate that Westside Cowboy’s debut EP, released this August is called This Better Be Something Great – they have quite a reputation to live up to. The tightly packed crowd look and sound as though they have a lot of faith.
Manchester-based quartet Westside Cowboy have caused quite a stir since forming in 2023, with their own brand of Britainicana. At least, that is term which they have coined, that they have chosen to describe it with. Across a forty-minute set, they do not make it much easier to pinpoint definitively what that is meant to sound like. Only that they have smooshed together American roots music with British DIY garage rock. The big positive though is that the mystery makes for quite an exciting journey, which they have created within only two years.
They begin with a cover of the theme from 1969 film Midnight Cowboy, originally an easy listening track. However, any relaxing qualities are thrown out in favour of howling vocals, squealing feedback, and a tour manager already dashing to the rescue when intense drummer Paddy Murphy is already knocking over his drums. Paddy then makes sure that any latecomers are aware that they have come to the right concert, with a voice breaking wail – “WESTSIDE COWBOY!”. It is a motif that one can only imagine they will have to repeat at every single concert forevermore, much to the chagrin of Paddy’s poor vocal cords.
After a drum fill, they are already performing their debut single I’ve Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You). There is something a bit different about how they perform live, to the production of their debut EP. While the US country twang of the verses warble from ear to ear like a warped record, they lose that fragility when performed at such high volume, crammed into such a small room. That is not to say that they do not put in a conscious effort to show who their influences are, proudly making a point of having fused various styles. On Alright Alright Alright, they make this clear with galloping snares, and lyrics borrowed from Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues. However, the hike in tempo and rawness of their live performance takes their sound somewhere new.
It resembles surf-punk, and it is only appropriate that this is followed by a song called Drunk Surfer. On this very rainy evening, a five-minute walk from Southsea seafront, Westside Cowboy might have finally established what British surf rock would sound like. The weather might be gloomy and overcast, and the beaches are rough shingle, but everyone is exhilarated regardless. Still, the story-telling country influence shines through as vocalist and guitarist Reuben Haycocks characterfully slurs into each verse. Maybe it is a sub-sub-genre that nobody has ever wondered about, or asked for, but it sounds great.
Within the instrumental chaos, the band vocals are also remarkable. Vocalist and bassist Aoife Anson-O’Connell belts confidently with no instrumental backing, to rapturous applause at the end of Pin-Up Boys. The band’s vocal harmonies are very impressive, particularly during the as-yet-unreleased The Boys. During its final chorus, the instruments seem to accelerate into illegible infinity, but the perfectly synchronised voices of Aoife, Reuben and guitarist James Bradbury hold everything together.
This is just part of the unreleased material that they play, as they also perform all five songs of upcoming second EP So Much Country ‘Till We Get There, to be released on 16th January 2026. Most of these new tracks come in the second half of the set, and there is a noticeable change. The songs’ unique features and increasingly unconventional structures can be heard. This hits a peak during Strange Taxidermy, during which the tempo can’t stand still for very long, and during new single Can’t See, during which Reuben’s tambourine finally gets some use, if only for five seconds, before it is tossed to the floor.
This begs the question of how these songs will sound when they are released next year, as they tease us with something more sophisticated than we have yet heard from them. Westside Cowboy may have tried to explain and demonstrate what Britainicana is meant to represent, but since their sound refuses to remain the same, this might be impossible. The best answer that we have for the time being is that it sounds like Westside Cowboy, and if their performance is anything to go by, that is a good thing.
Review of Westside Cowboy at KOLA on 22nd November by Nick Pollard. Photography by Rebecca Cairns.
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