The Hermit Crabs: Feel Good Factor EP

The Hermit Crabs is a Glasgow band that plays whispery, loving twee-pop. Its lyrics are small-scale and full of whimsy and regret coupled with a wistful hopefulness. The musicians look for clothes “at the charity bin”; they sing odes to “my china girl” (I think this means a figurine rather than a woman from Asia); they worry that their unrequited crushes will come to a depressing fruition. They “spend my time, filling my head with silly things / Wonderful whirligigs / You pass me by / Move on to other things / In your absent meanderings”; and they do it all to the finely-drawn sweetness of a cello and Melanie Whittle’s plaintive, husky voice. These are songs for a thousand university residences and share houses. The ‘Crabs has a full-length album coming out later this year and I’m already looking forward to it.