Next Wave #697: Beach Baby

Bright and easy guitar pop with a low-key slacker vibe...

If there’s one thing you should know about slacker rock newcomers Beach Baby it’s that they don’t like being called slacker rockers. “I guess we have a lazy, lackadaisical vibe,” singer and guitarist Lawrence admits. He’s not wrong. The handful of songs the band have revealed to the world sound more hazy and laid-back than Shaggy’s day off mystery solving. Lawrence and his co-frontman and songwriter Ollie have gradually constructed a unique iteration of sun-tinged, summer playlist-ready guitar rock together while playing together in a variety of bands since meeting in their first year at Brighton University (ex-bands include Low Moon Low and Arms) where, unbeknownst to them, future drummer Shep was also studying (ex-bands include the far better named Jailcake and the far more terribly named Emily and the Whispers).

The lead duo’s symbiotic songwriting relationship is what powers the band’s output, “When you’ve got two blokes writing songs there will always be a competitive element, but in a good way”, Lawrence explains, happy with the fluidity with which they can lock horns and push each other to new heights one minute, a sight Shep describes as “fun to watch”, before carefully doctoring one another’s songs to create the smooth, languid end product you can hear on their singles.

But Lawrence worries that, like with the hard-working Parquet Courts across the pond, the hazy vibe of the group’s output can also mean that its creators are seen as ‘slackers’, undercutting just how hard the band have to work to keep their heads above water in such an unforgiving industry. “We’re still grafting full time outside of the band” explains Shep, who works most days as a teaching assistant at a special needs school while Lawrence proofreads film scripts on a freelance basis (one or two have even starred Tom Hanks, but that doesn’t stop the money being terrible).

It is apt that the band have elected to name their upcoming debut album ‘No Mind No Money’ after their similarly titled ode to living a full life on the breadline (it also contains alliteration, as the band helpfully point out). Lawrence admits that, for him and Ollie, the experience of having to work while being in a band plays into a lot of what they write about. Whether it’s wishing for a simple good night’s rest on ‘Sleeperhead’ or celebrating the working man’s hungover Sunday on ‘Lost Soul’, Beach Baby’s songs resonate with the experience of being young, broke and desk-bound while seeking creative fulfilment on evenings and weekends.

With any luck ‘No Mind No Money’ will go down just as well with the shelf-stackers as it does with the slackers. It’s a timely snapshot of a hard-working London band nailing the modern twenty-something maxim of pursuing ‘hedonism on a budget’, all the while appreciating every moment they have together making music just in case it all ends tomorrow.

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WHERE: London née Brighton
WHAT: Bright and easy guitar pop, think The Strokes with a suntan
GET 3 SONGS: ‘No Mind No Money’, ‘U R’, ‘Bruise’ (an all too easily forgotten gem of a B-side)

FACT: Drummer Shep managed to record his drum part to ‘Lost Soul’ in one take. He seemed very proud of this and was adamant that it should be noted in this article.

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Words: Josh Gray

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