Hometown: Houston, Texas.



The lineup: Laura Lee (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), Donald Johnson (drums).

The background: If you like the idea of soundtrack music that might not sound out of place in a Tarantino movie, some wistful soul and slow-motion funk with an exotic ambience that offers hints of countries as far-flung as Hawaii and Japan, then you need some Khruangbin in your life. Their name means “engine fly” or “aeroplane” in Thailand (“It symbolises the international set of influences that shaped our music,” they say) and they are influenced by the Thai funk sounds and styles of the 60s and 70s cassettes they discovered on the cult Monrakplengthai blog. They come from Texas, though one of them currently lives in London, and they make music partly via Skype, and partly together in real life, in a barn in Burton, TX. There they can write away from the distractions of the city and everyday life, deep in the Texan countryside where the sky is big and the three of them can see for miles.

That sense of spaciousness, together with the Thai-inflected tunes, means Khruangbin sound like no one else, even as their songs shimmer with echoes of Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) by Marvin or Curtis Mayfield’s score for Super Fly. Their music is mainly instrumental, with a strange-yet-familiar quality that comes from the elements they most enjoyed on those Thai cassettes: funky bass, twangy or fuzzy wah-wah guitar, horn blasts and tonal melodies that come from traditional (Asian) folk. Apparently, their beloved Thai music was largely shaped by pre-Beatles, early-60s instrumental group the Shadows. “They did the instrumental surf-rock/pop thing and were so successful that they did one of the first worldwide tours,” they explain. “Subsequently, they had a huge influence all over the world, especially in east Asia. In Thailand, they had such a heavy impact that a new local genre was born: Shadow Music.”

They only formed two years ago and already have been delighting everyone from Don Letts to i-D. They make their UK live debut at Simple Things festival, Bristol, on 24 October and have released a seven-inch and a four-track 10-inch of covers (Ennio Morricone, Yellow Magic Orchestra), with a debut album coming in November, titled The Universe Smiles Upon You. (The Soundcloud accompanying this article has two tracks from it.) White Gloves features vocals, with a sublime, soft, barely-there sibilance that lulls you into picturing the character in the song: “She was a fighter … she was a queen …” It’s lovely, despite the tragic ending. People Everywhere (Still Alive) has a delicate funk lilt, Hawaiian or Thai guitar, a disco-lite rhythm, syn-drums and gently aching chord sequence which brings to mind the sort of exquisite pop-disco fluff they might have played to death in a Spanish discotheque in 1976. Their earlier single, A Calf Born in Winter, is wonderfully wan, bearing traces of Albatross by Fleetwood Mac or even the Byrds’ Draft Morning. It’s psychedelic and dreamy without belonging to either the psych or dreampop categories. It’s part of a different tradition. Or a new one.

The buzz: “We have a future classic on our hands” – the Vinyl Factory.

The truth: They’re what’s happening, brother.

Most likely to: Collaborate with Hank Marvin.

Least likely to: Make you wanna holler.

What to buy: The Universe Smiles Upon You is released on 6 November by Night Time Stories.

File next to: The Shadows, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Pong Lang Ubon Band.

Links: soundcloud.com/khruangbin

Ones to watch: Rukhsana Merrise, New Pharaohs, Daisy Victoria, Ritual, Mansionair.