Album: 17 Hippies

Heimlich, HIPSTER RECORDS

This German collective have been churning out quirky, eclectic alt-pop for over 10 years. It's fortunate that their most quietly confident and accomplished album to date coincides with the fact that they're finally getting promoted in the UK. The songs come in German, French and English, but, one senses, from internal necessity rather than any self-conscious desire to please as large an audience as possible. Instrumentally the party includes Indian harmonium, ukulele, and Irish bouzouki amongst the usual guitar, brass, and strings. Think, Think of One, but without the art school archness.