Los Campesinos!
Romance Is Boring

Los Campesinos! (farmers in Spanish) are a pop-rock band from Cardiff, formed in 2006 that currently consists of eight members. In this second release: "Romance is Boring," the Welsh collective's musical recipe remains essentially unchanged. It's a rowdy and festive pop that doesn't hesitate to rest on a punk foundation. Uniformity is a term unknown to the Campesinos, hence the countless variations in moods and speeds that characterize their nervous compositions; the only constant being the defiant youthful choral nature.

The album was recorded in various locations between the States and the homeland, showcasing collaborations with Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Zac Pennington (Parenthetical Girls), and Jherek Bischoff (The Dead Science).

Appreciable and far from the Artic Monkeys-Bloc Party spotlight, the pop-rock of these farmer lads is variable and colorful, as easy as seeing winged donkeys to establish the collective's major influences.
Here and there, melodic embroidery marked Death Cab For Cutie appears ("There are Listed Buildings," for example, which dangerously approaches "The Sound of Settling"), more widely, Stephen Malkmus-like personality guitars are perceived ("I Warned You do Not Make an Enemy of Me," "Romance is Boring"), as well as the modest joy of Architecture in Helsinki ("A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show me State or, Letters From me to Charlotte," "In Media Res"). Besides the aforementioned, noteworthy are "Plan A": a bewildering fusion between early Beastie Boys and the noise of Blonde Redhead, and "I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just so You Know": an anarchic track, never predictable and devoid of any control, hence engaging and direct.

If these Welsh can prove to be less scattered, we will have no doubts about their talent; otherwise, their fate will be that of a party band with wrinkles, which will not easily slip from our memories.