Los Campesinos!: Hold On Now, Youngster...

BY CHARLOTTE MOSS

Los Campesinos!
Hold On Now, Youngster...
Arts & Crafts

I first heard of Welsh band Los Campesinos! via KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic when BBC DJ Steve Lamacq was a guest on the show. Lamacq had said during the radio program that Los Campesinos! was a band to watch, and, no surprise, he was right. Following the April release of the band’s debut album, Hold On Now, Youngster..., they have been hyped by such mainstream press as Rolling Stone and the more indie outlets, such as Pitchfork, but the excitement was already growing even before then.

When EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets was released last year, it boasted a number of catchy tunes, including the oddly titled “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives” and the addictively fun “You! Me! Dancing!” Everything about this band showed they had a sense of humor, from their witty lyrics and song titles to their cartoonish album covers. And unlike other bands who might feel uneasy at the expectation surrounding a debut full-length, Los Campesinos! seems to have approached Hold On Now, Youngster... with the same light-heartedness and mild sense of seriousness.

Thematically, Los Campesinos! bears a similarity to Arts & Crafts label mates The Most Serene Republic, who often take on bookish themes, as the Campesinos! sing tongue-in-cheek songs entitled “We Are All Accelerated Readers” and “Don’t Tell Me to Do the Maths.” Such academic topics also illustrate the band’s recent studies at Cardiff University, where all seven members met.

Though the songs are mostly light pop numbers, the lyrics are slightly heartbreaking and cynical. For example, in “This is How You Spell: Hahaha, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics,” which has to be one of the best song titles in recent years, vocalist and glockenspiel player Gareth sings about leaving a note that reads: “I have left you. Please never try to find me. This is no existential crisis. Just turn your pain into piety.” And shortly after, he sings, “I’m pleased, I’m pleased.” But Team Campesinos! aren’t cruel. Rather, they’re realists, who are almost incapable of writing a sappy love song. In “Accelerated Readers,” Gareth sings, “This sentimental movie marathon has taught us one thing: It’s the opposite of true love is as follows...,” then the entire band shouts, “REALITY!”

When the Campesinos! do sing about love, as in “My Year in Lists,” there’s always a tinge of self-aware humor. Playing on oft-discussed love letters, the song begins, “You said ‘Send me stationary to make me horny,’ so I always write you letters in multicolors decorating envelopes for foreplay.” After all, that’s how so-called intellectuals sexually express themselves, right? But then, before you think it’s all about love, Gareth and vocalist/keyboardist Aleksandra chant, “I cherish with fondness the day before I met you.” I had to replay the track to make sure they had actually added “before” in that verse.

At its worst, Los Campesinos!’s music could be described as standard indie pop, but it’s more clever and fun than most. Team Campesinos!, who have all humorously adopted Campesinos! as their surname, will perform June 7 at the Troubadour, and they should all expect “You! Me! Dancing!” Even if you can’t dance a single step...

Los Campesinos! w/Parenthetical Girls @ Troubadour, June 7

Comments

[El Guapo]

Nice, Charlotte Sometimes: Great band, great record, can't wait for the gig!

http://www.myspace.com/loscampesinos

[charlotte]

yeah, they're worth seeing!