Wir Sind Helden -- Your New Favourite Band (From Germany)

Turns out that the German music scene is not dead after all, it was just sleeping. BW, who just returned from Deutschland, reports that there is a new wave of German-language alterna-pop (what is being hailed as the first real German pop scene since Nena sang 99 Luft Balloons two decades ago), and at the vanguard of the movement is Wir Sind Helden, who just released their second album, called Von Hier An Blind (Blind from Now On).

Wir Sind Helden has arrived in a country, like our own, that is beset with pre-packaged "artists" a la American Idol (Germany's version of the show is called Deutschland sucht den Superstar). Indeed, BW says that German MTV is just as bland as its American counterpart -- except, that is, for the 3:56 of pop heaven that is Nur Ein Wort, the new single from Wir Sind Helden, which playfully reinvents Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues routine. Lead singer Judith Holofernes is adorable as she gleefully hops around, throwing cards down and picking them up as the film jerks backwards and forwards. As with all of their songs, the lyrics are entirely in German, but the hooks are so universal that it makes no difference. (You also have to love the cover art for the album, with its nod to Tintin.)

You can listen to Nur Ein Wort and other songs here, and the full album is available as an import at Amazon UK. And if you have any doubts, just look at the records recently purchased by the same people who bought Von Heir An Blind: Arcade Fire, Gorillaz, British Sea Power and Kaiser Chiefs.