Eagleionline

Romance is Boring

So far, 2010 has been a bit lackluster as far as music is concerned. Yes, the new Vampire Weekend is surprisingly good, but I still feel like I want to punch the entire band when I hear them, so I can’t fully get behind it.  A mash-up of the Beatles and Wu-Tang was released which, while amazing in theory, turned out to be as disappointing as seeing a ring on the left hand of an attractive girl. To be honest, I haven’t given Odd Blood the chance it deserves because every time I put the album on, I listen to “Ambling Alp” over and over (that song is freaking good). And Animal Collective still sucks. This dearth of outstanding music explains the lack of reviews this semester. I am sure the 1 ½ people who read these articles have been devastated.

 Luckily, Los Campesinos! released an album on January 26 that is a unique, eclectic effort from front to back. Without knowing more, you might assume that a band with the name Los Campesinos! is a Mariachi band which will mar the enjoyment of your flautas by subjecting you to “Guantamera.” In reality though, it is a young 7-piece band formed in Wales (though no one in the band is Welsh). Their sound is often a self-indulgent cacophony of instruments and stream-of-consciousness lyrics. This album though is a more mature sound than their previous releases. Notably, they have moved away from the glockenspiel, which is certainly a good choice.

The album is more jaded and introspective than the pie-eyed fare offered by the band previously (this is of course not to say the rest of their catalogue is not without merit). There are still many songs obsessed with romance and love, but songs such as “Straight at 101” suggest that Gareth Campesino! (lead singer) has moved away from the idyll of adolescent romance. He sings:  “[t]he talking heads count down the most heart-wrenching breakups of all time. Imagine the great sense of waste, the indignity, the embarrassment, when not a single one of that whole century was mine.” His voice and musings are complemented well by the female vocalist Aleks Campesino! (no relation). Aleks has left the band since the recording of this album though, which should prove interesting for the band’s tour.

While many songs still refer to relationships, coitus, and romance the band has finally stepped away from that formula. For example the song “The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future” finds Gareth pleading with an anorexic friend to begin eating again. (“I said ‘you’ve taken the diet too far, you’ve got to let it slip.’ But she’s not eating again…”) The more subdued and simple sounds in that song show the direction the band is heading: toward a more mature, well-thought out sound. Over the course of their albums they have developed a niche of dissecting social norms, with a combination of shouting lyrics, and sing-songy choruses over a variety of instruments. This album still has all of those components but in a much better way. In sum, this is the best offering of the band so far, and bodes well for the direction in which they are heading.