Kristallin - Flashback

More great German indiepop, from a band who's from someplace called Flethsee, which I confess I have never heard of before and have no idea where it is. Their music's rather familiar, though. In fact, it's kind of tempting to make a joke about the title of this song because it really is a flashback - to the classic indiepop sounds of the late '80s/early '90s. Reminds me most of the Sea Urchins, in their more upbeat moments.

It's from their 2000 debut (and only?) album, Station, on Marsh Marigold.

Die Blinzelbeeren - Entschuldigung

Shout-out to 7iete Pulgadas for this one. I can't read German or Spanish, so I can't tell you anything about this band except that they're sort of like the German Pastels and, well, isn't that enough? It's things like this that make me want to quit my job and become an Indie Anthropologist, travelling around the world to record all the great bands who will otherwise be lost to history. Who wants to give me a grant?

Red Letter Day - From Far Away

Red Letter Day were a Hamburg band on the German Marsh-Marigold label. Their 1990 self-titled debut album has much to recommend to indiepop fans, with some songs that would slot easily into a Sarah Records comp, a couple that you'd swear were the Mekons and this one, which sounds like Lloyd Cole fronting an '80s Creation band. The songwriting is a bit weak in spots and a couple of the tunes tend to drag, but overall it's still more than worth the trouble seeking out if you're into that sort of thing. And you are, obviously, if you're here.

Tomcat - Little Fairy

I know nothing whatsoever about Tomcat apart from what's listed on their Myspace page - which isn't very much - but the tunes are pretty good. Sort of Bends-era Radiohead with a bit of a soft shoegazey influence. This is my favourite.

Anyone knows anything about them, please share.

Brideshead - Shortsightedness

I confess that the charms of German indiepop have largely eluded me but if Brideshead are anything to go by, I’m missing out on a lot. Though most of their records came out in the late ‘90s, their sound is vintage C86. And they don’t sound German at all, although they do kind of look it.

This is from their 1998 (but sounds about ten years earlier) album Some People Have All The Fun.