We don’t think London via the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain is a route often travelled by indie bands; in fact we’d go as far as to say Flamingods are the very first. Temperatures on the tiny island can reach up to fifty degrees Celsius in the summer and those sweat soaked days spent honing their musicianship look to be paying off. Flamingods were born after lead singer Kamal, Sam, Craig and Charles landed in London to study, meeting fifth man Karthik along the way.

Their music is completely devoid of boundaries with multiple drum sections forming a hypnotic wall of sound. Take “Quesso”, taken from their debut LP out on Art Is Hard in January; a shamanistic ritual featuring Ponytail’s Dustin Wong and a stack of looping tropical samples, lo-fi guitar licks and manic vocal yelps. If you’re fond of Friendly Fires, then Flamingods infectious jungle jams are sure to impress; their magical calypso vibes tessellate perfectly with the Nottingham outfit’s second LP, Pala. Considering their inception in a country with no alternative music scene of note, Flamingods blend a smorgasbord of instruments gathered from around the world to make a sound absolutely unique to them and utterly impossible to replicate.

(Ed’s note: Flamingods’ Quesso also made it onto our opening 22tracks playlist)