Los Campesinos

they still have these sorts of indie kids in wales?

they sound a lot like envelopes with the girl with the cute accent playing off the boy with the cute accent. a lot of the same roughed-up but still sharp guitar sounds and kinda twee bells/claps/keys, too. they share the same hyper self-awareness as well, but i think campesinos! try much harder to be a serious band while still doing the "it's not blood it's cherryade" thing, while envelopes are one stepr from I'm From Barcelona in terms of omglookbutdon'tlook tweenes.

i really really like this band.

The "Frontwards" cover is great (probably my second favorite rendition of it, with the live version on the second disc of the S&E reissue being my first). "You! Me! Dancing!" is quickly becoming one of my top summer jamzzzz.

this band makes me sort of wish i'd never found ilx.

Essplain

they make taking drowned in sound seriously and not listening to any music that isn't made by white people in cords seem like a good idea.

i do think that they've got it in them to make the indiepop "juicy" thou

define:self-parody

RIP Big Man?

My ex-girlfriend used to say that

When you came?

Yeh, that was too far.

Must have left my house at eight, because I always do
My train, Im certain, left the station just when it was due
I must have read the morning paper going into town
And having gotten through the editorial, no doubt I must have frowned
I must have made my desk around a quarter after nine
With letters to be read, and heaps of papers waiting to be signed
I must have gone to lunch at half past twelve or so
The usual place, the usual bunch
And still on top of this Im pretty sure it must have rained
The day before you came

I must have lit my seventh cigarette at half past two
And at the time I never even noticed I was blue
I must have kept on dragging through the business of the day
Without really knowing anything, I hid a part of me away
At five I must have left, theres no exception to the rule
A matter of routine, Ive done it ever since I finished school
The train back home again
Undoubtedly I must have read the evening paper then
Oh yes, Im sure my life was well within its usual frame
The day before you came

Must have opened my front door at eight oclock or so
And stopped along the way to buy some chinese food to go
Im sure I had my dinner watching something on tv
Theres not, I think, a single episode of dallas that I didnt see
I must have gone to bed around a quarter after ten
I need a lot of sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then I must have read a while
The latest one by marilyn french or something in that style
Its funny, but I had no sense of living without aim
The day before you came

And turning out the light
I must have yawned and cuddled up for yet another night
And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain
The day before you came

never understood why you post entire lyrics to songs

-- blueski, Friday, 3 August 2007 16:14 (1 week ago) Bookmark Link

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rHt2CveSXqE

"Calvin Johnson never meant anything to me"

HEY THIS BAND ARE FUCKING AWESOME TALK ABOUT THEM YOU GUYS

Yes, they are awesome. When's the full-length?

February 08

Someone mentioned Envelopes here, they are much better than the Campesinos.

I never cared about Henry Rollins either.

The commercial potential for "You! Me! Dancing!" is off the charts, isn't it?

They're like a not-humorless Arcade Fire, with better production and funner songs! And Welsh! Yesssss!

Xpost. "off the charts" is where it'll stay.

I hear Gruff Rhys is playing with them on tour next year.

Wasn't Hugh Pooh-Stick available?

Xpost. "off the charts" is where it'll stay.

I knew I set that up as soon as I hit "Submit Response."

:)

mang have the retards in this video ever seen this video ?
surely they must die

Track listing for the album (Wichita, 25th Feb)

1. Death To Los Campesinos!
2. Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats
3. Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)
4. Drop It Doe Eyes
5. My Year In Lists
6. Knee Deep At ATP
7. This Is How You Spell ‘HAHAHA, We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams of A Generation of Faux-Romantics’
8. We Are All Accelerated Readers
9. You! Me! Dancing!
10. ...And We Exhale And Roll Our Eyes in Unison
11. Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks

Nice, but no room for "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives"...?

I still like them, but hoo boy they need to work on the live show - when nine out of the ten songs in your set prominently feature glockenspiel, headaches arise.

this has leaked

Listening now.

"I am not Bonnie Tyler/ And I am not Toni Braxton"

7. This Is How You Spell ‘HAHAHA, We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams of A Generation of Faux-Romantics’

^^^What's really great about that track is that that is the chorus, it's not just a fucking instrumental they've slapped a great title on.

My copy has a track 12, called "2007 The Year Punk Broke (My Heart)"

Anyway, so yeah, 2008 album of the year.

I can't wait to listen to this, but as hungover as I am, I'm not sure my head will be able to stand it just yet.

I relented, it's as wonderful as I'd hoped.

guitars on this are great

sadly, much as when live, this is boringly samey. you can interchange vocal lines between most of their songs.

when seen live

I was really hoping they'd have some new tricks up their sleeve for the lp. sadly not.

guys this album is so good

Anyway, so yeah, 2008 album of the year.

-- Dom Passantino, Friday, January 4, 2008 1:34 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Link

^would agree w/ this if not for hot chip

This album is great. I just can't wait to hear the mastered version.

so you think is an early leak?

the only two weak songs on here are 'knee deep at atp' and 'this is how you spell hahaha'. everything else is great. love how it's sequenced, too.

worst album cover of 2008 for sure

"I cherish, in fondness, the day before I met you" is such a great line.

My favourite on the album is "If you catch me with my hands in the till, I promise SUGAH I wasn't trying to steal"

this is the best album of 1998

makes me want to kill

The correct line is 'god help us if there's a war' but 'makes me want to kill' will do.

http://www.summersdale.com/images/You-Know-Youre-Getting-Old-.jpg

Still pretending to like Busted, eh?

Would have been shit in 1998 as well.

Hepburn represent!

This album is awful.

Dom--M S T U have reformed.

Seriously?

This album is brilliant and you all have taste in your arse - 3000 posts to follow.

haha at this whole thread

"I never got my ears pierced, and look how I turned out"

liveblog: im listening to 'We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives' on youtube.

the male vocalist in the verses... ah, are all their songs like this?

except for him, it isn't noticeably worse than other indie records that i have heard.

oh shit though the male vocalist just came back in. gotdamn, dom.

Seriously?

-- Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 11:17 (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

They went 'on hiatus' so N@t could get rid of the people she didn't like. Now they are back.

ok, 'You! Me! Dancing!'

intro much? but at least no vocals yet. i can imagine this going down well in an indie nightclub -- not a recommendation. this is like that curtis thread about bands who use loads of instruments at once -- that tinkly thing yo.

ok fuck this the vocalist is just.... dnw dnw dnw

They went 'on hiatus' so N@t could get rid of the people she didn't like. Now they are back.

-- Raw Patrick, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 12:25 (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Would this be the same "people" who in an interview I did with them declared a dislike of... I've said too much.

Also you are all missing the most important factor which is that THE DUDE SINGER LOOKS LIKE GRAHAM.

A 9/10? With the reviewer fighting the impulse to give it 10/10?

What am I missing with this band?

I mean, it's only one review, obv., but the disc is getting pretty good reviews overall, and I just don't get it.

It's you! It's me! And there's dancing!

Yes it's twee indie rock/pop but it's done very well. Love this song.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/142724-los-campesinos-to-release-another-album-already

Yaaaaaaaay!

whoa :D :D :D

10 All Your Kayfabe Friends

Oh Dompaws

Ucchchctsch,.

http://www.fabchannel.com/los_campesinos_concert/

Four sweaty boys with guitars tell me NOTHING about my life

this lyric always makes me think about the lex

So many threads this could go on....

Are you fucking listening, Pitchfork’s [nabisco] [.]?

He only said "white" three times. Disappointing.

But he said paedo upwards of 600.

loooooooooool musical politics

Stars Of Track & Field >>>> The Drugs Don't Work.

It's true though, everyone who likes this band is actually a paedo. No exceptions.

I had a really good zing I was gonna write here, but I'd get a pissy facebook message if I did.

I've not heard a single note by them. I think I like them because Swells doesn't, though. Although I do kind of agree with his statement of Doran's idea - basically "it's 2008 and the world's ending, why are you dressing as a 7-year-old", only I think it ought to be "It's 2008 and the world's ending, we might as well dress as 7-year-olds".

Do it, Dom.

I wonder if Swells/Doran is getting one after Swells slagged off a DiS sponsored tour?

http://cdn.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/large/9/9780061117169.jpg

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2005/03/11/image679617x.jpg

there's a sub-board you could post that jpg to

xpost

Sounds like someone is super jealous of Nabisco.

(Who wouldn't be? Oreos! Liking which makes you a pederast, too, obvs.)

Momus to thread.

Surprisingly, the second album sounds a lot like the first.

oh shit if this has leaked my day stands still

^This

I just got a copy from my hip indie swinger friend, Don Load.

oh man oh man oh man

i need lyrics but yeah they've still got it

sounds a little rawer but maybe its just unmastered or something

my fav part of this band now (besides gareth duh) is maybe the violin player

seriously though how are they so good

lyrics already up on songmeanings XD

seriously though how are they so good

― its sad he was a ringtone poster (J0rdan S.), Friday, 12 September 2008 20:33 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Because late 90s Lamacq indie is the greatest fucking genre ever and they're the only band still doing it these days (whatever bands Gedge and Hayman are playing in to crowds of 20 people nowadays don't count)

Another 40 minutes on this torrent.

i figured you liked them cuz they take the piss out of super serious kooks fans or what have you

for a while i thought i'd get annoyed by how busy the instrumentation is but they just write so many hooks

seems like there's lots of earnest love songs on here

lyrics predictably hilarious and great

And she said, "Tell me darling, do you think we have a future?"
Well, maybe, kinda, pretty sure we do between us
Bring over pictures of your dead pets and relatives
And we'll just say it's over if I don't shed any tears

As if I walked into the room to see my ex-girlfriend
Who by the way, I'm still in love with
Sucking the face of some pretty boy
With my favourite band's most popular song in the background
Is it wrong that I can't decide which bothers me most?
In the forefront of my mind it's the thought
Not of you underneath, but me coming out looking worse

i mean seriously

Because late 90s Lamacq indie is the greatest fucking genre ever and they're the only band still doing it these days

OTM, sorta. See also: Art Brut.

Art Brut are a little... too much, I think. Art Brut are clearly a band from north of Derby, you get me?

Although Jordy you should check out 1999 indie noisemakers Mo-Ho-Bish-O-Pi who are clearly LC's big influences.

art brut don't write better pop songs than los campesinos!

or as many at least

yeah i will dom

my fav part about LC! is that they have their cake and eat it too. gareth is obv an emo but writes an album where he basically makes fun of ppl who are super serious emo. they write songs about not taking yourself seriously but gareth clearly kind of does? idk, im stumbling here

I mean, they're a _fun_ band. It's like that thread from a few months back, how many bands actually sound like they're enjoying what they're recording? LC have gotta be one of, what, ten bands left who actually sound like they're having a blast.

oh shit if this has leaked my day stands still

hahahaha there is a cd copy of this album somewhere in the huge bin outside my flat. i had to get it out of here asap cuz its presence was grossing me out

this is a weird record kinda! way more gareth heavy with less interplay b/w him and aleksandra, though im okay with it cuz it seems obvious that he went through some shit and decided to write an album about it (in which case should we expect 2 a year?) so the fact that it's not as planned out or intricate as hony (i.e. the way that "this how you spell" morphs into a totally diff song at the second half and basically changes the record) is okay with me. its not as good as hony (though at times i wonder what is) but for a very personal and almost selfish record i'm not mad at it all. and "we are beautiful, we are doomed" and "you'll need those fingers for crossing" stand up with much of the first record.

im still trying to decide if "we kid ourselves there's future in the fucking/ but there is no fucking future" is the corniest or my favorite lyric of all time.

I mean, they're a _fun_ band. It's like that thread from a few months back, how many bands actually sound like they're enjoying what they're recording? LC have gotta be one of, what, ten bands left who actually sound like they're having a blast.

― Kanye raps about stuff other than shoes on the radio, Friday, September 12, 2008 3:17 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

also ^^this

dom can you school me on what he means when he says he'd be tony cascarano circa 1995

Voila!

ha well i googled his name and shit so i know that he's a footballer (lol british thread) but what's the significance of the circa 95 part also why him besides that he was a good soccer player

having barely heard anything by this band before, i am really really liking the album. christ, it moves at about 300 mph (in a good way), full of drama, great shouty bits, etc

i just stumbled upon gareth and tom (one of the guitarists) doing a track by track rundown of the album

http://www.loscampesinos.com/downloads/lc-hony_-_track-by-track.mp3

i can't even tell if this is interesting or not esp cuz gareth did a track by track for DiS

the album meaning HONY

I could feel the riot grrrl assemblage collage kid's (i think its gareth?) jealous gaze as i H&M hoodie danced better than him at a Danananakroyd gig at Cardiff Barfly a coupla weeks ago. Actually, i think its because i was pissed and elbowed him in the neck. Either way i think LC are shit

I can't get past Gareth's voice TBH, which is a shame 'cos the rest of them sound good - reminding me of Broken Social Scene. However, they were excellent live on the Shred Yr Face tour.

"Miserabilia" off the new album is especially aces IMO.

Any band that sings Kenickie lyrics in their live act is fine by me!

I could feel the riot grrrl assemblage collage kid's (i think its gareth?) jealous gaze as i H&M hoodie danced better than him at a Danananakroyd gig at Cardiff Barfly a coupla weeks ago

Any chance you could post to the WDYLL thread so I know to avoid you? Thanks in advance

lol british people

pipe down. it was a jibe at the self conciousness of lol indie dress at gigs, ng mencap. you misunderstand my funny.

lol this will end well

I don't think I understand it at all really. Never mind.

Is there a word for the feeling of awkwardness you get when you meet people in a bar, get on well with them, and then belatedly realise they are a band you have been slagging off on the internet for the past year?

This happened to me when I met Kanye down Spoony's last week.

i am jealous

i like this but yet i feel remarkably gross for doing so

im gonna watch the wab wad dvd tonight :D

i like this but yet i feel remarkably gross for doing so

― Lemonade In Hammocks (electricsound), Tuesday, 6 January 2009 05:00 (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

You gotta give into it, man.

"A fifteen year-old editorial (something)/The last man standing is a girl/Four sweaty boys with guitars tell me nothing about my life"

Which female-lead guitar bands came through in 93? Sleeper?

sleeper, elastica, err

echobelly was '94 i think.

When were Republica? I was thinking today as I stood at The Valley that it would be a sad day when "Ready To Go" was no longer played at football league grounds before kick-off.

"The last man standing is a girl" would imply that the lead singer went on to have some sorta career after the band, so it must be Wener or Frischman.

republica was later, 96-7

"The last man standing is a girl" would imply that the lead singer went on to have some sorta career after the band, so it must be Wener or Frischman.

― The boy with the Arab money (The stickman from the hilarious 'xkcd' comics), Saturday, January 10, 2009 9:45 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

sleeper was 3 boys 1 girl and wener 'went through' all the other manz in the band iirc which sort of makes sense there? elastica had the reverse proportion.

Sleeper had an EP out in '93, I think...

im such a fanboy

http://i43.tinypic.com/2zfl4rp.jpg

it says, "jordan, thanks a lot dude. love gxo"

^_______________^

hearing them live tonight reminded me of how complicated a lot of their arrangements are

This is a pretty good album, this is. (The new one, at least.)

the actual single is just ridiculously good

ooh, there's a new record?

wait — there's a download-only single and a tour-only single? i just can't keep up with these indie kids.

yeah "the sea is a good place for the future" (or w/e) was a download 'teaser' of some sort, this new one has been sent to radio, is under 3 mins, etc etc

it's streaming on their website - loscampesinos.com

AH. Wow. The Sea was certainly enjoyable and ambient etc. But this is more like it. Punch-in-the-gut-Campesinos! are back!

thx jordan.

gareth really sells the pleading of the chorus - i think his "trying to sing now, guys" voice is kinda great in a way

I dunno, it feels like just another album track (which could be potentially great). Wish they carried on being the band that made awesome singles though after We Throw Parties and You! Me! Dancing!

ya i feel you. "my year in lists" is actually my fav single of theirs.

i dno guys i think i get more out of this sea song

more something they haven't done before. this is good obv.

yeah fair. i mean, i probably will end up liking the sea more after the shock of this wears off, but it's nice to know that they haven't totally ditched the old mode. the sea continues the trend of doing interesting but dissonant things with the music while amping up the focus on gareth's lyrics - which are evocative, but more SERIOUS i think then they used to be (or at least less funny, because there was a time when they were both). it's a good look for them, and it's a needed shift, because they've probably plumbed the depths of the Hold On Now, Youngster sound by now. but absent the context of the album i'm not sure exactly how much I'll end up loving the Sea is a Good Place.

"my year in lists" is actually my fav single of theirs.

^^^ OTM. Short and fast and dirty, with a pretty awesome video to boot.

loscampesinos Finally finished typing up the lyrics to our new record. 3,530 words, without repeated choruses. I hate myself.
about 4 hours ago from UberTwitter

I = EXCITED.

i already know that this is gonna be in my top 3 albums of 2010, it's basically preordained

I'm sorta behind: is this material with or without the one singer replaced?

One minor thing that's always fascinated me about them is that they've always broken a basic rule of production, which is that you (generally) want to have all the sounds on a record in some realistic spatial relationship with one another. (Unless you don't.) Whereas they've had one loud shouty back-off-the-mic singer and then one quiet small-voiced close-on-the-mic singer, and they've had to just go with that. Either one of them alone would sound totally normal over the music they play, but having both is kinda strange: he always sounded like he was in a room with a rock band, whereas she wound up pitching in all close-miced like an announcer's voice appearing out of nowhere. I haven't yet heard how the new singer (it's his sister, right?) works, like whether that dynamic remains the same or whether she'll wind up changing it. It's a pretty weird dynamic -- the vocals on their records are really spatially wonky!

the new album has vocals from the old female member, she basically quit after the album was completed and a recent tour. the new girl will be signing her parts on tour & presumably the recorded material from here on out, but she doesn't have anything on the new album

re the spatiality, i always thought that she was super close-miced because her wispiness wouldn't be able to be heard when the band is full going, but it's very much like gareth uses her as his own internal voice. she never really raises her singing voice or inflects much, it's very much like she is the steady hand mirror to gareth's out of pitch screaming and flailing

Romance is Boring:

"It is a record about the death and decay of the human body, sex, lost love, mental breakdown, football and, ultimately, that there probably isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel."

So friggin' excited.

well yeah, exactly -- she doesn't have a strong enough voice to be in the same space as him (and obviously it'd just be dumb for him to be close-miced like her), so they just sit where they sit. (and people always go to their concerts and then say "I couldn't hear her! turn up her mic!") you're right about how the contrast works and how they totally use it, but then there's also this whole just-production level on some songs where it still feels really odd to me. it must be very interesting to produce them.

yeah it's weird because they have some elements that are outwardly twee — wordiness, mousy girl vocals, glockenspiel — but they really aim to make lots of noise while still making glock lines a central part of the arrangements (along with the strings). and i think it makes sense that they are produced by one of the broken social scene guys, not sure if many other producers could handle the dynamic of 7 band members all trying to be heard at once.

yay more football references. i hope one song is dedicated to losing an epic football manager savefile.

oh how i love this band.

i never got the reference to "tony cascarino circa 1995" - what is the significance of player & year

it rhymes?

tony cascarino is a bit of a nob actually but he was a great goalscorer.
1995 is an odd year to pick because he went to marseille after they were done for match fixing and were made to be relegated etc. for it.

i guess 'hristo stoichkov in 1995' didn't sound as good.

i love los campesinos, i can't wait for there new album

kinda prefer johnny foreigner

kinda prefer getting my balls twisted off by an angry lesbian

think i might see them on Saturday. can anybody vouch for their live show?

very fun imo

They do have swine flu, mind you! Even had a bucket on stage with them tonight in Oxford, just in case. But yes, lots of fun!

copy haho who are touring with them now are good & fun too

yes they are

(copy haho's too pure 7" out now folks)

(don't ask the Copy Haho singer about his German girlfriend! Sore subject tonight!)

"I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock" is the ultimate expression of music nerd sexual frustration t/f

Hello,
We, the band Los Campesinos!, are delighted to inform you of the details of the release of our imminent fourth album, Hello Sadness.
The 14th November (15th in North America) will see the record's birth in CD, Vinyl and Digital format.
Conceived in Girona, Spain earlier this year, under the watchful eye of producer John Goodmanson, Hello Sadness is ten songs of love, loss and heartbreak nail-gunned to a back-drop of broken, tangled bodies, creeping, dead-eyed animals, suffocating, looming shadows and World Cup exits. It is an honest, bare bones documentation of breaking up and trying not to break up in the process.
As an incentive for you to get in early and pre-order your copy, we've put together what we consider to be a pretttttty impressive pre-order bundle, only available direct from Los Campesinos! and for a limited time. This includes:
CD/Vinyl copy of Hello Sadness before store-release date.
Digital download of Hello Sadness
Exclusive Limited Edition DVD of footage from the recording of the new album. Including Documentary and a “How To Play...” feature.
Exclusive LC!.com pre-order only 'Palmist' t-shirt.
Hold On Now, Youngster... 'The Demos' CD – recently unearthed demo versions of songs from our first album. Including rare track How I Taught Myself To Scream and the previously unreleased No Tetris.
Just head on over to our website to get it while you can.
As ever, we thank you for your interest and support. We're really excited about this new record, and we're looking forward to you joining us in that excitement,

All the best,
LC!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

^^^

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Huzzah! Now they just need to get Heat Rash #2 out. Only quarterly zine I know that publishes on a yearly basis. (I kid. Psyched for the new album, although the title is a bit :/)

I don't know, the title is very much in character for these guys.

This is such great news

ordered my bundle, t shirt in black :)

soooooooooooo does gareth campesinos! break up with someone once a year or

so pumped

Too soon to arbitrarily pick out songs we are excited about based only on their titles? Because:

05. Every Defeat A Divorce (Three Lions)

yeah that title made me literally lol

more songs about soccer

i think it's hilarious that they went & recorded an album in freaking spain that they ended up naming 'hello sadness' w/ a cover photo that's like the antithesis of spain

spain is a p sad place

FAT KAKA

hope fat kaka gets a mention here

i am very excited about this

indiest £50m footballer

New song "By Your Hand" is out now, and it's catchy but really soft around the edges—there's almost no bite to Gareth's voice. Not sure if I like that change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ku_ZMPJ5M0&feature=player_embedded

whoa i love this

gareth's voice sounds great i think, really full like he's trying to sing from his belly

sounds like something off 'we are beautiful, we are doomed' imo

on laptop speakers it sounds like they made some rudimentary attempt to make the full-band vocal harmonize rather than just yell in a rough unison

whatever i mean i like it

was not expecting a shot of the guitarist singing! um i think his name is tom possibly i don't know

how many of them are there at this point, i forgot to count

Is that Tom? Ollie is gone now and was replaced by Rob. Harriet is leaving soon. Alecks left post-RiB and Kim is on vocals now. The rest are the same, so I think that the size of the band hasn't changed.

I like By Your Hand but there's something different that will take getting used to. Gareth's voice sounds fuller and warmer and more trained somehow? It's less of a yelp, even at its shoutiest.

it's one of the dude guitarists, prob tom

why is harriet leaving

it's def a bit odd to hear his voice that way but i think it's kinda cool

also lyrics are still on point

hottie contingent depleting rapdily :(

eh, the new drummer is an improvement in the face

and gareth looks like he's washed his hair but that might just be for the video

i don't want to rain on the los camp party, but after the insane growth between wabwad and rib, i'm wondering if it's even possible for the new album to maintain that trajectory of artistic growth. i do like this new song though. it's solid.

did anyone else listen to the heat rash single? i played those two songs into the ground.

i listened to them a few times, thought 'there is a reason the aren't on the albums' and shelved them. maybe i should go back, i was in a happier mood when i got them.

Kim looks way too much like her brother Gareth for me in terms of 'hottie contingent'. Boo.

Blog doesn't say why Harriet is leaving, although i'm sure sharing the spoils of a v. indie band w/ your 34 other band mates can't be too good for the bank balance in 2011.

i really like this though.

Some of the urgency (in Gareth's vox + the music) is lost. Reminds me of the crooner on RIB ("Who Fell Asleep In"), which I still hate. Massive black hole in the middle of that record.

Mind you I though "Sea is a Good Place" was rubbish when it leaked, and now I really like it, so my opinion on "By Yr Hand" might change too.

To echo phantompenguin above. It was inevitable that at some point, Los Camp! would have grown away from what I loved about them in the first place. At least the affair lasted longer than the one with Bloc Party -- man did they fall off fast. I dunno: perhaps band loyalty is harder to maintain in musically glutted times we are livin in...

Intrigued by the Heat Rash singles, are they on youtube?

Once the shock (or non-shock) wore off, the new song only took a couple listens to completely win me over. They can stray in whatever direction they want so long as the song writing remains this sharp.

this is sneakily dense. i didn't realize how much was going on til i put on my headphones.

Still not feeling it, but "Light Leaves, Dark Sees" is great, so there's hope.

pfft love affair being over; their last album had their best songs on it!

a bit of a "yonkers" homage, eh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ku_ZMPJ5M0&feature=player_embedded

Woooooooooooooooooooooo

Just about to listen to this! Also it has come with TWO free CDs and a free download AND a T-Shirt how could I not love this band?

oooh one is a dvd

Did you preorder it somewhere? I want free goodies. Two more weeks til its out here.

("to tundra" <---- this song is overwhelming)

There are so few albums this year that I really connected with, especially indie albums, that I deeply, deeply want this album to be a masterpiece. Right the draft of my best of the year list is way too heavy on albums I respect and way short on albums I love.

Yeah they did a pre-order thing ages ago. http://www.loscampesinos.com/wheat/hello-sadness-new-album-14th-november-2011/ afaik this link still works.

Sucks that the only time I am in the same place as them, the show is sold out. And they were fucking giving away free tickets to Heat Rash subscribers! I should check my blogs more regularly.

Must be sold out, because following through the links just takes you to a page for t-shirts. I should have jumped on this quicker.

shit i need to get these HNY demos

2. I Love You (But You’re Boring)
A cover of Gareth’s favourite song by his favourite band, The Beautiful South (featuring backing vocals from Gareth and Kim’s Dad).

wait so the demos are my 2nd free cd? YAY.

FINALLY got a copy of Tweexcore then - life is sweet today. Shame it doesnt have We Throw Partis but I guess I'll go downloading.

Really wish that more bands did pre-orders like this. And since they sent the email today I assumed that it was only being posted today so it was a great surprise to get home and already have it waiting! Halfway through first listen now.

A hoy hoy, are you around in London on Monday as well?

yuh

I have two tickets for the KCLSU gig on Monday night and now have no one to go with, so you are welcome to buy the spare one!

i am going to be with a lady friend so :( ...tbh i would blow her off but i am staying at hers that night and would prefer somewhere to sleep than lc!

Aww ok.

can i just say that the inlay artwork is the worst. i cannot read a fucking thing, everything is too small and printed in colours that blended into the background.

did the pre-order but didn't get the e-mail with the mp3s, and given that i'm in canada haven't gotten the LP proper yet. sigh.

al check yr mails

it's ok. i sent them an e-mail with my proof of purchase and they're supposedly going to get it sorted, according to gareth's twitter.

cool.

one day i would like to enjoy a full album by these guys as much as i enjoy the first three songs of we are beautiful, we are doomed

the new single really grew on me, though

A band I always liked who are a bit like these, but imo better (not to mention Spanish language) are La Casa Azul. Anyone know em?

one day i would like to enjoy a full album by these guys as much as i enjoy the first three songs of we are beautiful, we are doomed

the new single really grew on me, though

― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Friday, 4 November 2011 19:38 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

they did this! it is: the rest of we are beautiful, we are doomed

you can lead a horse to water but it won't drown itself

omg.

so far i think i like this more than i did romance is boring the first time i heard that. dunno if anything will smack me across the face like straight in at 101 or we got yr back tho.

yeah i <3 that line

i'm really looking forward to gareth posting the lyrics online

if i werent busy playing fm12 and about to go to work, i'd go all jordan-as-2008-gucci-fan-of-the-year on this shit

this thread title needs an exclamation point already.

What he said. Still my favourite LC! release, although the other two LPs are close behind

Have my download code now. Listening to it. Three tracks in. My reaction is less intense that it was to Romance is Boring but it's all good so far.

Beautiful/Doomed is still my favourite rather.

Oh wow. The last half of the album is really something special.

This is streaming on NPR right now. Listened to it last night, perfectly OK but samey? voc grates a little.

morbs!

what, I'm not allowed to listen to new albums now?

That feeling of hearing "By Your Hand" again for the first time in five or six weeks... pretty great.

i love it when morbs turns up talking about bands i love (he was p vocal too when i started a thread for that last disappointing magnetic fields record iirc). i also find american politics p lame, so if only i had more knowledge of olde timee movies, i feel like we could be ilx bros.

what, I'm not allowed to listen to new albums now?

― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, November 8, 2011 4:22 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest

no it's awesome, i just didn't know that you had any idea who LC! are

I haven't even heard that last disappointing magnetic fields record

lol it was v forgettable whether you heard it or not. but you talk about tmf and discuss their tour dates within that thread.

(memories of one of the first threads i started not about football)

After exhausting the first three albums on a ravenous kick this week I returned to Hello Sadness, wondering if I might appreciate it some more with distance. I didn't. What a flat, disappointing album. "Every Defeat a Divorce (Three Lions)" has got to be the worst song they've ever written. Like, I get that you like soccer, but why put a very literal song about that fandom in the middle of an album? Do you have any sense of what it is you do anymore?

ha i like that song a lot. soccer is pretty central to the LC! experience & idk... i think the way gareth writes about romance applies well to sports too

i'm split on which of the last two albums i like better. the first two are clear standouts to me.

"to tundra" is one of the best songs they've ever written tho. & "by your hand" was a great single.

EDAD is barely about football dude.

in fact the whole album he seems to have turned down the footer references. or sport in general. edad is about his parents divorce, it is just half framed around watching football. songs about yr girlfriend has a reference to kit. by yr hand has a snooker reference.

it is less great than the other 3 but it has by yr hand, hello sadness, edad, life is a long time and baby i got the death rattle which may be my favourite lc! song so...

its like they made a 7.5/10 record instead of the 9s and 10s the others were. not a huge deal.

Soccer has always been background coloring on LC!'s albums (as, to a greater extent, has music fandom and scenesterism), fun details that fleshed out the songs and gave a sense of Gareth's greater tastes and interests and made him seem like more than the sum of his orneriness and heartbreak. And I get that in some of Gareth's most wry lyrics all of those concerns have exaggerated, world-ending significance, but to actually dedicate a whole song to soccer just confuses everything thematically. I mean, this is a breakup album. Imagine if, like, Marvin Gaye had sandwiched a song about how the Tigers were having a crappy season into Here My Dear, putting that disappointment on the same plane as his withering love.

"By Your Hand" is a classic LC single, and "To Tundra" is really graceful, so Hello Sadness closes with some dignity, but the middle section is so soggy and uninspired. Romance is Boring is by far the better album; the prose and storytelling on the record are so much more biting and effusive. For all its sprawl, everything on that album is so alive.

This one family photograph
Always floats to the top
Like a beaming, bloated corpse
Though having been made up
My memories are sepia
But the photograph is not
An historian is fucking with them
As deadly as garrotte

Where they're standing in the kitchen
With his arms around her waist
With no idea of what's to come
And a smile across your face
And all the fittings are the same
But every other thing has changed
Must forget everything you know
As though your mouth and tongue estranged
Small comforts found in ABBA Gold
And electronic chess
When West Clewes was my Waterloo
My most dramatic test
Now I've been walking down the shortcuts
And the alleys in the dark
Because I'm not scared of the shadows
They're no blacker than my heart

These things rattle round my head
If he hasn't blown the whistle
Then it isn't quite the end.

---

How is this not about his parents divorce and instead "about how the Tigers were having a crappy season"?

Seems to me like he's using the divorce as a metaphor for soccer, not the other way around, right? Because a soccer defeat is a very inadequate metaphor for your parents' crushing divorce; when you reverse that equation you a least get some absurd humor from the asymmetry of the comparison

Nah it is about him remembering a time when they were getting divorced as he also goes to watch England get beat with his dad. Also THAT game* (which half the first verse eludes to) was pretty crushing on a lot of people, and to use it as what should have been a distraction and instead was a punch in the nuts just adds to the weight imo. idk i guess i find it easier relating considering i would have been the same age, with the same england football enthusiasm, going through a parents divorce.

*Argentina 2 - 2 England with Argentina winning on penalties, obv. It is about a legendary a game of sport gets. It made a national hero (Michael Owen). It made an international villain (David Beckham). Two penalties within the first 15 minutes. It had beautiful bits of skill and two especially great goals, one which was a true sucker punch free kick routine by Argentina. It had England (Sol Campbell iirc?) seemingly score the winning goal and have it disallowed. And then of course penalties.

Honestly I think that game was a big turning point in how the country viewed a ton of things, sport and celebrity and national support etc. There hasn't really been national support of a sporting figure like Owen got that night since Farah/Ennis last month, we kinda just took 14 years off.

Also didn't help that we'd been to war with them a decade ago.

Basically go watch that game. It used to be on youtube.

I tip my hat and walk back some of my criticisms; that's a really solid read of the song. (I still hate this song, to be sure, but I'll blame that more on the UK/USA culture gap than any songwriting shortcomings.)

every time i listen to the latest album, i'm surprised by how solid it is and how much i like it, but i don't feel compelled to put it on the way i did romance is boring and certainly don't adore it the way i did wab/wad

i never picked up on the divorce part

its in the name

that is certainly true.....

task force https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41wqBPc1_g&feature=youtu.be

thanks for posting! is this a new album? must investigate this. whatever it is, i'm digign it.

yeah upcoming

ASSEMBLE

https://soundcloud.com/los-campesinos/what-death-leaves-behind/s-jDNo5

this song is GREAT

WE WILL FLOWER AGAIN

holy fuck. What a song. John Goodmanson's production on this is just incredible.

Why must I lie awake, from dusk until the morning, through fear of bein' impaled upon errant mattress spring?
Within a waking dream I finally made my heel turn, lived life as Super 8 when you were promised Hilton
Propose me as a pardon for sins, led on barbecue I'm burnt offerings
I proof-read the Book of Job for the Lord: edit one, League Cup 2004
We, delicate as a filigree, cleared a place for us in the chicory
Colosseum blood will dry in the sun (is it true...?)

GOAT

Why must I lie awake, from dusk until the morning, through fear of bein' impaled upon errant mattress spring?

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

Why yes I will post the tracklist

1. For Flotsam
2. What Death Leaves Behind
3. A Portrait Of The Trequartista As A Young Man
4. Cemetary Gaits
5. Glue Me
6. As Lucerne/The Low
7. Avocado, Baby
8. Let It Spill
9. The Time Before The Last Time
10. Selling Rope (Swan Dive To Estuary)

Avocado, Baby > Picasso, Baby

is this their optimistic album?

those big thwacking snares on this are so good

i already like this better than anything on the previous record

nah, by your hand still holds up really well

3. A Portrait Of The Trequartista As A Young Man

this is like the ur-campesinos song title right here

all goosebumps-ed out from this song. Love love love.

this fucking band is going to make me reopen my Livejournal account

this song is really, really good

"by your hand" is awesome though yeah. "to tundra" off the last joint is one of their best songs ever too.

Hello Sadness was good enough, only OK, but I'll forever love it for lowering my expectations enough that I could be surprised and delighted by this new one. I didn't think the band had the wow factor left in them anymore.

HOLY FUCK COLOUR ME EXCITED

all of the above especially the love for to tundra and the fact that most of hello sadness wasn't as mediocre as many of us older fans felt but that after some realllllly high quality heat rash singles and this i am v psyched for this record

Is there a way to hear those Heat Rash singles? I would happily shell out money for them; it was dumb of me not to subscribe.

not to my knowledge although if you email gareth at askheatrash or the official los camp account maybe he'd send you the mp3s for paypal?

if not (or if so?) send me an email

the heat rash singles were great, but so was the tiptoe through the true bits b side they released for free through the blog and the christmas single which i don't think was a heat rash exclusive last year? doe to a deer iirc.

Heat Rash / Non Album Stuff:

Kindle a Flame in Her Heart / The Holly and the Ivy (December 2010)
Heat Rash #1: Light Leaves, Dark Sees / Four Seasons
Heat Rash #2: Dreams Don't Become You / I Love You (But You're Boring)
A Doe to a Deer (December 2012)
Heat Rash #3: Allez Les Blues / Dumb Luck
Heat Rash #4: She Crows (Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #4) / To the Boneyard
Tiptoe Through the True Bits

Heat Rash #2 is covers and they're ok but not vital. #1 was good but not mindblowing. #3 and #4 are some of my favourite songs from that era of LC! and Doe to a Deer / Tiptoe are A+ wonderful.

Super helpful! Thanks!

All of three and four are on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QobSHa4QTsQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44MvaT-2XzQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZsBbGPtICU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MEZem5q2nw

aw i dont think i received hr#4

a heart of stone, rind so tough it's crazy / that's why they call me the avocado, baby

press copy? i haven't gotten my preorder yet.

There aren't many albums lined up for the rest of the year that I'm looking forward to (at least not ones with hard release dates), so I'm trying to lower my hopes for this album, because right now they're probably way too high

yeah gareth sent me the album

i haven't had a chance to listen to it much yet unfortunately but it sounds really good..."glue me" is my favorite i think

Outstanding album

This might be a Top 10 of the year for me. Really enjoying it. Every song is so tight and compact.

Download link sent out to pre-orderers about 10 mins ago.

no blues indeed.

gareth might have not had his heartbroken in a while.

This is streaming on Pitchfork advance now

people laugh they will call it folly
but we connected like a yeboah volley

leave with all the dignity
of missed Panenka penalty

anybody else get the free download code for the A Good Night for a Fistfight live album? it's immediately telling me the code is not valid. wondering if anyone else had this problem.

This is excellent.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/tomphillips/haim-and-los-campesinos-have-the-worlds-most-indie-twitter-f

lol

Being from the states I don't know what anything in that article is or means, but it all seems awful. Just awful.

New album coming, new single:

https://soundcloud.com/los-campesinos/i-broke-up-in-amarante

i am enjoying the new album from unpopular beat combo los campesinos!

Same. I wish Americans had a greater appetite for self-loathing and football metaphors. They weren't even able to tour here on the last one!

I really like 'Sick Scenes' too. Currently on a US tour, aren't they?

I haven't connected with this one at all :(

I'm seeing them in a few weeks. Hope this album is as good as the last one.

maybe I'm underrating it... those first three songs are killers. When the energy drops though the band seems to show its age

I'm quite enjoying them settling into a few mid-tempo numbers in their advanced age, but yeah it definitely thins out on the second half.

maybe I'm underrating it... those first three songs are killers

haven't heard the new one yet but this has been sorta the case with the last two albums. the great songs are so GREAT though

When I saw them in december 'I Broke Up in Amarante' got maybe the biggest reception i've ever seen a new song get.

they've apparently been opening their shows with "the low" which, i'd have to leave immediately for having a nervous breakdown during the first song

the great songs are so GREAT though

I WAY overrated No Blues because it has two or three total knockouts on it; that's probably why I'm more guarded with this one. But when this band was on their game even their filler used to be gold

they're just doing the same thing as No Blues here, with the synths a bit less prominent, but not much stands out

i really miss the noise & ambition of We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed & Romance is Boring, it's a bit strange how that all disappeared not too long afterwards with Hello Sadness

That's definitely been gnawing at me. There's a 'fuck it, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks' attitude on Romance that I really miss. Feel like not being able to do the band full time took it out of them a bit. If they get to make another one maybe they should just ask Jamie Stewart to produce it.

:)

https://www.sportsalcohol.com/20-best-los-campesinos-songs-far-post-lists/

good list but replace "by your hand" with "as lucerne/the low"

xp Pretty great list, especially love your words on 'i just sighed..' which might be my favourite as well.

'in medias res', 'to tundra', 'drop it doe eyes' and 'she crows' probably the only omissions i'd fight hard for

the fav i'd fight for is "i warned you: do not make an enemy of me"

In hindsight I'd have put "Lucerne" somewhere on my list. That's an anthem. "Do Not Make An Enemy of Me" is one of those songs I always forget I love until like 30 seconds in, and always forget I REALLY love until the chorus comes in.

Looking at the lists ppl are sharing on Twitter shows how wide the range of interest is in Romance is Boring. There's something for everybody there.

I gave the new album some space and it grew on me in a big way. Their best album since Romance is Boring. "5 Flucloxacillin" is sensational.

would put In Medias Res and I Just Sighed... right at the top & Drop It Doe Eyes somewhere but it's good to see those WABWAD tracks in the top 5

has to be the first indie rock song with flucloxacillin in the title

Not right to call this old age
But it certainly ain't youth no more

Was kinda down on side B at first but have been going back to it loads recently. Might rank this above WabWad now.

This band's great trick was going from making some of the most immediate records of their era to making growers. Sick Scenes has really aged beautifully.

Hold On Now, Youngster turns 10 today

'Hold On Now, Youngster…' is 1️⃣0️⃣ years old today! 🎉

Related commemorations and celebrations, coming soon.

For now, blast it loud on your headphones one time tonight. pic.twitter.com/BqwjQzDLEL

— Los Campesinos! (@LosCampesinos) February 22, 2018

front to back classic

yeah I'm so lucky to have this thing in my life

aw I remembered 'You! Me! Dancing' only just this week. What a fantastic song. What a great band. I should have spent more time with them.

this album saved me from trash-heap indie

You Me Dancing, My Year in Lists, Death to Los Campesinos, Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks...I still play these on the regular, brilliant energy.

This and Thunder Lightning Strike by The Go! Team were my go-to mood boosters for years

https://goo.gl/images/1goPv3 Probably posted this in another thread, but agree/disagree with the music he loves, the Phonogram series is a good read.

Whoops. It's the third image down in this article. One Phonogram character recommends the band to another. There's a page that follows where the second character listens to "You! Me! Dancing!" and loves it.

listened to this again today and it sounded as good as ever

then i was listening to some of romance is boring and it also sounded great

Those are the two that have held up the best, I think. But whenever I put on We Are Beautiful, that one sounds glorious, too. I'm really hoping some younger bands discover them and are inspired by their voraciousness.

between like crying, martha and modern baseball they've already had a pretty good influence imo

how was their album from last year? i've been meaning to check it out (since, uh, last year).

it's really good, their best since Romance is Boring, but it doesn't quite deliver the youthful jolt most people probably expect from this band

they had a really incredible run with those first three albums

Reissues of HONY and WABWAD out in Oct to celebrate the glorious anniversary!

http://www.loscampesinos.com/news/2018/4/11/hold-on-now-youngster-and-we-are-beautiful-we-are-doomed-to-be-remastered-and-repressed

On Saturday October 13th we’ll be playing our biggest ever UK headline show at the O2 Forum, London. MISERABILIA, as we’re calling it, will be unlike any Los Camp! gig before as we’ll be playing two sets, supporting ourselves.

The first set will be made up solely of songs from the above mentioned albums (plus maybe some other tracks from the time…) and then once we’ve towelled down and sprayed on some deodorant we’ll be back out on stage again to play another set, made up of the rest of our catalogue from the past decade of being the UK’s premiere DIY/punk/emo (delete as applicable) band.

😻

picked up a ticket, may be US shows as well:

We're really excited that you're excited, thank you.

AMERICANS - please don't do anything rash and fly over like you say you're going to. We're looking into the affordability of/getting the time off work for US shows. We'll keep you posted...

— Los Campesinos! (@LosCampesinos) April 11, 2018

the above show was very excellent

i mean:

This Is How You Spell "HAHAHA, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics"
Death to Los Campesinos!
Ways to Make It Through the Wall
Drop It Doe Eyes
Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown # 1
You'll Need Those Fingers for Crossing
We Are All Accelerated Readers
Knee Deep at ATP
My Year in Lists
Frontwards
Miserabilia
...And We Exhale and Roll Our Eyes in Unison

I Broke Up in Amarante
What Death Leaves Behind
Romance Is Boring
By Your Hand
A Slow, Slow Death
A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show Me State; or, Letters from Me to Charlotte
5 Flucloxacillin
For Flotsam
Songs About Your Girlfriend
Here's to the Fourth Time!
We've Got Your Back (Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #2)
The Fall of Home
Baby I Got the Death Rattle
Straight In at 101
I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future
Avocado, Baby
Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State

Heart Swells / Pacific Daylight Time
Hello Sadness
You! Me! Dancing!
Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks

greatest to ever do it

Thanks for the setlist, was also there and it was fantastic.

Goosebumps when they played “...Sooner State”.

holy shit

my only suggestion is they should always play “the low”

the low and in medias res would have been welcome but honestly the best show i've ever been to.

also great was the scalper outside kentish town tube station trying to sell tickets to the peasants

I was impressed the show was a big enough deal to have bootleg t-shirts on sale outside.

We were discussing it after and despite playing for about 2.5 hrs there were still at least half a dozen big tunes left out.

for once in my life i can say i have valentine's day plans

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of our third album, ‘Romance Is Boring’ we will be repressing the sold-out album on vinyl, plus playing a lusty double header of shows in London, on Valentine’s Weekend 2020

You can pre-order your remastered copy of Romance Is Boring on gatefold gold vinyl now, as well as getting hold of it's companion, the ‘All’s Well That Ends’ EP. ‘All’s Well That Ends’ is limited to just 500 copies on 10” vinyl and features brand new artwork by LC!’s own R N Taylor. All pre-orders come with a Valentine’s Card signed by the band.

Also up for grabs is ‘Romance Is Boring: an Oral History’ — an extensive ‘zine featuring conversations with Los Campesinos! members past and present over the last decade, as well as exclusive photographs and illustrations.

furloughed as of this morning so have been sat here ranking their songs

https://isthisyoursanderling.tumblr.com/post/617366942035116032/furlough-special-los-campesinos-ranked

very much agreed with the top 2 but i have never liked "baby i got the death rattle"

new album finished, out this summer

all hell out July 19th, based on the first song and that it's 15 tracks I'm hoping this is RiB II.

I can’t see anything about it other than your post devvvine.

went out yesterday evening in a newsletter, think should go public this morning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgwEUnBmcE4

https://loscampesinos.substack.com/p/all-hell-the-new-los-campesinos-album

this has the details

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgwEUnBmcE4

this is the single. not really romance is boring 2, sounds like they've been listening to like, foxing?

That makes me excited to check it out. Foxing is exactly what they shoulda been listening to imo! (But also Romance is Boring is my least favorite one so I'm a weirdo)

a second new one, in classic lc! stomper mode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN0ZaXKBFYg

You’re all in agreement that the police are useless
They want them emboldened, Baby, you want them bootless
The punks on the playlist, are crooning for kindness
Asking “why can’t we all just get along?”
Me and my friends are sadists, backbreakers for spineless
Wish ‘em dead and then we’ll put it in a song

I'm not all that familiar with their earlier music but their new one is the best record I've heard in 2024.

for a band yet to record a bad song, it's still a surprise how essential this feels. they've managed grasp a scope and ambition they maybe lost hold of for a little bit.

it's quite good, definitely better than the last, but it's still not on the level of their best material. i'm a bit surprised at how positive the reaction has been overall. might be able to make a case for 'best since romance is boring' though idk yet

I know I'm a Bernard Sumner fan at all, but several lyrics had me rolling my eyes.

nothing new there unfortunately

yeah i'm happy to say this is their best since romance is boring, and their best-produced album

finally got around to all hell which triggered a discog run. no blues remains insanely underrated. and all hell is nearly as good as romance is boring :)

but i'm a weirdo who thinks the first to lc! albums are mostly like... fine. first three tracks of we are beautiful are the greatest songs ever made but it's hard for me to inhabit the rest like i did when i was in college

first two*

likewise, the first two are kind of inseparable from being 16/17. whereas I've aged alongside the others more so. if i was making a list of the greatest twee/indie pop records I would put HONY in there with a bullet though.