Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos! are a group of seven Cardiff University students. Now, for a lot of people the first word to come to mind when you mention a combination of wales + university is "aaeeulldyyggh". Which, as everyone knows, is welsh for "crap". However, there will always be exceptions to rules, and Los Campesinos! seem to be one of these. Their debut EP, 'Hold On Now Youngster' has a small collection of entirely delectable songs. The first track, 'You! Me! Dancing!', seems to undergo constant anamorphosis. It begins with an introduction that wouldn't sound out of place on a 'constellations' release. Very post rock, very Godspeed You!. After a minute or so of build up, in come the drums and the guitar riff, reminiscent of something by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Another transformation takes place when the xylophones are introduced, changing the sound to something along the lines of Architecture in Helsinki. In the end, they settle somewhere between AIH and The New Pornographers. When the vocals first come in, you're in for a bit of a shock. Whilst not so extreme as, say, Joanna Newsom, I can imagine lead singer Tom's voice being a bit of a deal breaker for some. Though it put me off on my first listen, I've grown to actually like the sound of his voice now. It's nice to here a genuinely British accent on a record, and it provides a nice juxtaposition to the very innocent sound of the lead female vocalist.
The second song is a great example of why I love small bands. "It Started With a Mixx" could well be just one long piss take of The Killers' song, "Mr Brightside". Find me a big name band that has lyrics that compare to these:
"Trying to find the perfect mix between pretentious and pop, some crappy artwork that took, way way too long to draw. Hand written tracklisting restarted every time the pen smudged, encoded title doesn't give away as much as it should. It started with a Mixx, how did it come to this?"
and you'll have found "Weird Al Yankovic". Find me another, and you're probably lying.
If I've yet to convince you of the merits of Los Campesinos!, then chances are I never will, and so I'm going to quit whilst I'm ahead. The debut EP is soon to be available on Wichita records, and through all your usual illegal sources, but if you've got the funds, I'd say buy the thing. After all, They're young and they need the money.
Buy:
'fraid you've gotta go to one of their shows.
Listen:
Deat h To Los Campesinos (via BBC)
It Started With A Mixx (via BBC)
Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks (via BBC)
Links:
Myspace
