As the super-fecund German indie scene continues to churn out band after band of Brit Pop-inspired indie-ism, it falls to the French to quietly stick two fingers up to the prevailing wind and turn the tables.

Film noir fans Zombie Zombie have made a themed record of dark, synthy moodiness with just enough warmth to keep those who’d normally run a mile at this sort of thing reined in. Fans of Jimi Tenor might want to stick around too. With titles such as ‘Psychic Harmonia’ - featuring some lovely drum interludes - and a couple of eight-minute beatfests, Etienne Jaumet and sidekick Cosmic Neman wear their 70s Krautrock influences proudly on their sleeves. But the lads from northern Paris have created that rarest of beasts, psychedelic electronica with genuine moments of toe-tapping addiction.

Add to
this great production worthy of anything that came from Düsseldorf’s Kling Klang studios of yore, plus beats clearer than a Fox’s glacier and you’d be hard-pushed to fault the, err, craftwork.

Paul Coletti