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Today’s New Band are really nice. Ouch, I just used the ‘N’-word. But it’s in context, yeah, so it’s OK. And anyway, lots of my friends are nice, and they don’t mind me using that word.

I’ll say it again: Boat Beam are nice, and unashamedly so too. They’re a peculiar Australian-Spanish-American hybrid, and this shows in their music, the origins of which can’t quite be nailed to one place. Their niceness, I assume, comes from the bonhomie that a multi-lingual friendship necessitates. This is a good thing.

Igloo begins loopily and rolls from there, embracing unusual structure, sounds and intent on the way. It’s always heartening to hear an indie band working differently, and here they have a good stab, wrapping reversed vocals around a hesitant rhyme.

The Rain Pauly is just lovely. Again, there’s no other, more zingy, word to describe it. Slippery vocals slump over a simply rounding guitar and form a dreamy, sweet, floating song that feels like a heartfelt hug received after a tough day.

Lots of the bands on ANBAD are abrasive, or obtuse, or noisy, or all three at once. Boat Beam are here to partially redress the balance; slight, happy-go-lucky and warm. Listen if you have the sun shining on you. And if not, listen anyway and maybe you’ll forget that it isn’t.

Photography by Candela Sotos