Pitchfork

"You never told me that you were anybody," BOAT singer/guitarist D. Crane sort of complains on "Come With Me, We'll Win", the opening track from the Seattle indie-poppers' second album, Let's Drag Our Feet. It's an observation in line with the self-deprecating humor of BOAT's catchy, poignantly goofy 2006 debut, Songs That You Might Not Like, not to mention the indie-pop scene more generally: Anybody can be somebody, and while everybody really might not like your songs, that's totally OK. "We drank the most beer," the Diet Coke-quaffing Crane adds, like a real rock star.

On "Come With Me, We'll Win", there's enough hooky bass, ba-ba-bas and handclaps to make him look like one for about two minutes-- if you squint. Though now-defunct Canadian weirdos Unicorns have returned to the sea as Islands, BOAT keep up the sort of exuberant, melodic, and eccentric pop tunes that originally earned that group its horns. "Anybody" or not, BOAT should be somebody worth hearing for fans of offbeat pop (also check out "Elephant Ears").

[from Let's Drag Our Feet; out now on Magic Marker]