The garage and punk scene in Spain is notably strong and has churned out some really interesting stuff over the past few years. However, with the annual Primavera festival, (now in its fourteenth extremely successful year) now is a great time to be a Spanish indie band. The festival focuses predominantly on independent home-grown bands, providing a vehicle for emerging talent.
Crystal Fighters, (also hailing from Spain) encapsulate an overwhelming joyous sensation into their music that is instantly palpable, Beach Beach have gone in with similar elation on first album The Sea. Take their double-worded name as a reiteration of just how sunny and carefree these guys sound, something that has sadly lacked in British indie music for quite some time now.
Opener ‘Friendly’ is a one minute blast of sunshine (and does sound ever so slightly like the Friends theme tune, only slightly though), setting the tone for the rest of the 12-track album. ‘Just Like Before’ is playful, light-hearted stoner beach pop. It’s charming and childlike, and is everything that our once joyous British indie scene used to be, before things got stale and cynical. ‘Glaring Sweat’ is a bouncy, surfer rock anthem, kind of like Tame Impala, but instead of LSD acting as their main stimulant, a hazy, marijuana enhanced sleepiness can be heard.
The Sea is pretty much the same formula repeated on every track, without a smidgen of a change in sentiment. It’s easy listening from beginning to end, but not in the disparaging sense of the phrase, it just really is very pleasant to listen to, and would sound amazing under the spring sunshine at this year’s Primavera.
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