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It’s noisy. It’s frantic. It’s crammed full of noise and words and sounds and that most nebulous of substances, ‘attitude’. It’s rather articulate, in an “I am writing this at 7.10am / On the hard dry tarmac of a vacant forecourt” (I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed. So You Know) way. It buzzes where it should buzz (A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show Me State; or, Letters From Me to Charlotte), and drops pace and goes all moody where it feels the need to drop pace and go all moody (the brief eulogy to former NME scribe and love-hate figure Steven Wells, Heart Swells/100-1). On occasion it’s irritating, enlivening, tepid, chugging, over-charged with brass sections and loud guitars, sulky, brattish, brilliant – and recalls overwhelmingly the holy indie triumvirate of Bis, Pavement and early Bright Eyes.
It is, of course, the new album from Los Campesinos!, the Welsh collective’s third in as many years – and, Bangs alive, it doesn’t stop shouting for a second. Even if the shouting is a little subdued compared to what came before.
There’s certainly no shortage of ideas. (The shortfall comes in the editing, but Los Campesinos! clearly see this as a plus.) “She turned her back on the church and put her faith in me,” Who Fell Asleep In brags provocatively, slightly sea-sick, before continuing as a bumpy love song (almost) worthy of Riot Grrrl talisman Comet Gain. “Can we all please just calm the f*** down?” they scream on This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind, before immediately disregarding their own advice.
They’re not as wilfully twee as before – both the references and music expand far beyond their beloved interpretation of NME’s famous C86 tape. Now it seems like Los Campesinos! are limbering up for a shot at, if not the stadiums, then a couple of the smaller arenas. Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State is all very serious, and young, and tormented in an Oberst way; opener In Medias Res is an associative poem in the style of late-50s coffee bars set to a spaced-out and tricky electronic accompaniment. There Are Listed Buildings, meanwhile, is a good old-fashioned romp in the style of Slanted and Enchanted.
More serious but still jittery, and not without detritus, this is the album that will decide the longevity of Los Campesinos!. --Everett True
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Being a massive fan of LC! since hearing You! Me! Dancing!, with every album I've waited for it's release without ever a fear of disappointment, and with Romance Is Boring they have yet to let me down.
Once again, they have made an amazing album, much deeper lyrically and musically even than previous effort We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, where the first steps away from their initially charmingly "twee" sound were taken, the lyrics darkening along with the music. Yet in maturing so they have done the seemingly impossible and not lost their charm.
Gareth Campesinos! lyrics are as idiosyncratic as ever, and the way they are written in the booklet they read more like short novella's, a mixture of Morissey's bleak wit and Springsteen's wordiness. Song subjects range from talking an anorexic friend out of their "Taken too far" diet to doing very un-Christian things within sight of a church, yet you never feel alienated by the deeply personal lyrics. You'll even find yourself singing along to the most un-singalong lyrics if you don't catch yourself in time, you get pulled in so much by their honesty.
Musically now more bombastic in sound, standout track The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future is devastatingly beautiful, sounding like a british Arcade Fire track in its epicness. Lead single Romance Is Boring is more of a straight up rock song than they have written perviously and easily the most pop song on the record. They even get experimental on some songs, with Plan A sounding more like Rolo Tomassi as they step up the aggro and tempo for an absolute belter of a song. Despite the variety, the album is incredibly consistent, and you will likely not find your hand straying to the Next Track button on your player.
Overall, fans of the band will not be disappointed as LC! continue to outdo themselves. With the tweeness out and the maturity in, anyone who unfairly dismissed their earlier works should give them another go, and newbies will easily be drawn into the cynically romantic world of Los Campesinos!
Once again, they have made an amazing album, much deeper lyrically and musically even than previous effort We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, where the first steps away from their initially charmingly "twee" sound were taken, the lyrics darkening along with the music. Yet in maturing so they have done the seemingly impossible and not lost their charm.
Gareth Campesinos! lyrics are as idiosyncratic as ever, and the way they are written in the booklet they read more like short novella's, a mixture of Morissey's bleak wit and Springsteen's wordiness. Song subjects range from talking an anorexic friend out of their "Taken too far" diet to doing very un-Christian things within sight of a church, yet you never feel alienated by the deeply personal lyrics. You'll even find yourself singing along to the most un-singalong lyrics if you don't catch yourself in time, you get pulled in so much by their honesty.
Musically now more bombastic in sound, standout track The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future is devastatingly beautiful, sounding like a british Arcade Fire track in its epicness. Lead single Romance Is Boring is more of a straight up rock song than they have written perviously and easily the most pop song on the record. They even get experimental on some songs, with Plan A sounding more like Rolo Tomassi as they step up the aggro and tempo for an absolute belter of a song. Despite the variety, the album is incredibly consistent, and you will likely not find your hand straying to the Next Track button on your player.
Overall, fans of the band will not be disappointed as LC! continue to outdo themselves. With the tweeness out and the maturity in, anyone who unfairly dismissed their earlier works should give them another go, and newbies will easily be drawn into the cynically romantic world of Los Campesinos!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Did I fall into a wonderful dream-state and wake up in some bizarre alternative reality where Superchunk's wonky guitar stylings now rule the airwaves? In this same beatific future, did Urusei Yatsura actually go on to make the biggest selling album of all time? And, in this same minty-fresh reality, are Seafood held in such high regard that BBC Three regularly gives up its entire weekend scheduling just to pay tribute to their whimsical songsmithery? Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding no but, while there will always be vile provincial lo-fi tribute acts like Johnny Foreigner to remind us just how tired this genre can sound, we can at least take comfort in the almighty skronking joy that is Los Campesinos! We can sigh as they do the quiet-loud-quiet thing! We can squeal as they yelp like a thousand puppies trapped in a rockslide! And then we can groan a little bit that one of their early songs is now on a Budweiser advert. There's no escaping the fact that Being Indie is now officially considered a decent career option, an over-subscribed option even. Boo!
The song titles may verge on the twee and the ridiculous and, if you are a fan of this genre of music, I'm sure you've heard it all before by the time Track 3 rolls around. Some might say that you'd be equally well-off spending your hard-earned money on an album by Cap N' Jazz or Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, Beat Happening, Pavement, Pixies, Times New Viking, Mazes, Bass Drum Of Death, etc, but I assume you're reading this review for reassurance since you've already decided on Los Campesinos! Go on, it's okay. Enjoy! At least it's not Scouting For Girls and surely that's worth the asking price alone.
The song titles may verge on the twee and the ridiculous and, if you are a fan of this genre of music, I'm sure you've heard it all before by the time Track 3 rolls around. Some might say that you'd be equally well-off spending your hard-earned money on an album by Cap N' Jazz or Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, Beat Happening, Pavement, Pixies, Times New Viking, Mazes, Bass Drum Of Death, etc, but I assume you're reading this review for reassurance since you've already decided on Los Campesinos! Go on, it's okay. Enjoy! At least it's not Scouting For Girls and surely that's worth the asking price alone.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Having seen LC! Many times and listened to their first two records non-stop when they first came out, I was expecting to love this one straight away, however, this was not the case, I found it... Well... Boring. However, after about 3 listens to it I realised the genius in the lyrics and technicality of the music and I got over my pre-conceptions of the change in tone and just went with it. Brilliant album. Buy it!
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I thought that the description for this item implied that I would be gettign a vinyl. however, when the post came, I was shocked to see that it was a CD. :(
Published 8 months ago by rose
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