The Boxer Rebellion

They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity, though in the Boxer Rebellion’s case, preparation is probably best described as perseverance. Formed via message board in 2003 by American expat Nathan Nicholson and Australian expat Todd Howe, the London act was signed to Poptones, the U.K. label started by Alan McGee following the collapse of his massively influential Creation Records.

Early on, the band’s shoegaze-flecked garage remained largely overshadowed by peers like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. When Exits, a debut album, was released in May 2005, it landed with a thud. Poptones did what little it could, but the label was already on the brink (and would close for good two years later).

Typically, that’s where the story ends. But the Boxer Rebellion soldiered on for five years. In that time, it managed to record one self-funded follow-up, Union. While the album found the band dialing back the more self-consciously caustic arrangements of Exits, Nicholson’s vocals on tracks like “Soviets” and “Misplaced” were the real revelation, a lovely falsetto pitched somewhere between Thom Yorke and Jónsi.

Despite not seeing release in a physical format, Union reached as high as No. 4 on the British iTunes charts. More serendipitously, at a one-off show in Los Angeles, the band drew the attention of film producers who were looking to cast a band in a Drew Barrymore movie. The recently released film, fittingly titled Going the Distance, not only features the band’s songs on its soundtrack but gives it screen time. It’s hard to imagine a luckier break—and equally hard to imagine a band better able to appreciate its good fortune.

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