Los Campesinos!
(Arts & Crafts)
"I had a momentary out-of-body experience, and saw myself as my parents must see me, an astonishing self-propelled creature that the cooing, helpless infant they still vividly recall has inexplicably metamorphosed into."
- Glenn McDonald
The problem with praising a band for maturing rapidly is threefold: whether you mean to or not, you risk slighting their earlier work by comparison, and if you focus too much on the difference between where they were and where they are you can similarly lose sight of the virtues and flaws of the 'mature' work. And of course, mature is in scare quotes there because of the third problem; if they're progressing so rapidly, who's to say that they've stopped?
All of which is to say that, yes, Cardiff-based septet (octet when playing live, these days) Los Campesinos! sound different on Romance Is Boring than they used to, although this is obviously and immediately the same band. But for a variety of reasons that's not what's interesting about this fantastic album.
Some of the changes are the basic sonic ones you have to expect any band with any sense of adventure to try at some point; so the euphoric chorus of "There Are Listed Buildings" is borne aloft by horns as much as by Tom and Neil Campesinos!'s guitars, there are occasionally strings, and there's a greater range of tempos, volumes, and moods than the still-young band's first two (stellar) albums. But Romance Is Boring is very much in line with the people who made Hold on Now, Youngster..., a party record with miles of sardonic wit, tortured self-reflection and romantic despair behind every surging crescendo. For a band lacking any obvious instrumental virtuoso, Los Campesinos! are still tight as hell and these songs turn on a dime, from anthemic to despairing and back again (sometimes both at once).
Singer and lyricist Gareth Campesinos! might still be getting his heart (and occasionally ass) kicked by life, but he's only going from strength to strength in terms of his already precocious ability to hit moments of both emotional truth and l'esprit de l'escalier sniping (which, since these are songs and not conversations, actually manages to hit its targets). Romance Is Boring is the band's darkest album but it's also their funniest, from the inflection given to lines like "I'm pretty sure I can heeeeeeaaaaarrrrr you" to titling a song "I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know," to following up the darkest song they've ever done (the harrowing "The Sea Is a Good Place to Think About the Future") with one that starts with them all yelling "CAN WE ALL PLEASE JUST CALM THE FUCK DOWN?" The humour is vital not just because it's so well done (a rarity) but because Los Campesinos! refuse to fall into the dichotomous trap of either taking themselves too seriously or of abdicating the ability to be sincere.
So the same album that contains the line, directed at the band more than their fans, "and if this changes your life did you have one at all?" also has a closing track that makes "I can't believe I chose the mountains every time you chose the sea" a statement of utter emotional desolation. This is what emotions are like, especially when you've got all the energy and angst of youth in you; they all hit at once and no amount of wit can hide the depth of their impact. As exuberantly brash as Los Campesinos!'s music is, their real genius lies in their dedication to exploring that confusing, turbulent, wonderful confluence.
Standout Tracks: "Romance Is Boring," "In Media Res," "The Sea Is a Good Place to Think About the Future" IAN MATHERS
