Album Review : Los Campesinos - Romance Is Boring
- Written by Paul Brown
In the two years since their debut, Los Campesinos! have come to embody all that is good about British guitar bands. This means that the arrival of their third (yes, the last one does count) long player in February is a big deal. But does Romance is Boring live up to expectations? Well, let’s have a listen, posting knee-jerk track by track reactions as we go, shall we?
1 ‘In Medias Res’ - A really ambitious start. Contains a wonderfully creepy mid-section and a first dalliance with brass. A real statement of intent and indication of how much they’ve grown.
2 ‘There are Listed Buildings’ - … but they haven’t grown too much. This could sit perfectly on either of the two previous records with its ‘ba ba ba’s and boundless exuberance.
3 ‘Romance is Boring’ - Perhaps as direct as they’ve ever been, this is straight-up ballsy rock with what might prove to be the biggest, boldest chorus of 2010. This is all going very well so far.
4 ‘We’ve Got Your Back (Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #2)’ - Feels like an extension of that BSS-style texture that started to emerge on the last record. So much going on under the surface. Still very LC! though with those shouty gang vocals and lyrics (“Every girl I ever kissed / I was thinking of a pro footballer”)
5 ‘Plan A’ - In which Los Campesinos! pay homage to their fuzz-rock heroes. Aggressive and abrasive, but in an endearingly cuddly way.
6 ‘200-102’ - A little breathing space of weird creaky acoustic guitar. Gives us all a chance to calm down after all that shouting.
7 ‘Straight in at 101’ - More classic LC!, all soundbites and urgency: “I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock / Feels like the build-up takes forever but you never touch my cock”. Another instant, huge pop song.
8 ‘Who Fell Asleep In’ - God, this is incredible, a killer torch song. It just swells and swells. It’s woozy, fuzzy-headed and lovelorn as can be. Another indication of exactly what this band have always been capable of. The best so far.
9 ‘I Warned You - Do Not Make an Enemy of Me’ - But how do you follow that? Well, they keep it nice and simple, another catchy guitar-line and a WAB,WAD-style stomper.
10 ‘Heart-Swells / 100-1’ - Continues exactly where its predecessor left off on the previous record, all echoey, windswept and forlorn.
11 ‘I Just Signed, I Just Sighed, Just So You Know’ - More of this heavily-layered, complex production that should give the songs much more longevity. The recording of the songs is becoming as much of a star as the tunes themselves.
12 ‘A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show Me State; Or, Letters From Me to Charlotte’ - Organ and more brass is splashed across the song, and it seems to make perfect sense. Right at the end Gareth tries some singing to befit the sheer hugeness of the song, and he just about pulls it off.
13 ‘The Sea is a Good Place to Think About the Future’ - We’re cheating a bit here, because this song’s already very famililar. It’s an incredible achievement, though, taking you on a rollercoaster of emotions in less than five minutes, from sadness to serenity to euphoria and back.
14 ‘This is a Flag. There is No Wind’ - One of three or four instantly catchy songs. Playful, crunchy guitars and a sky-scraping party chorus. The sound of a band at the peak of their powers.
15 ‘Coda: A Burn in the Shape of the Sooner State’ - Curiously down-beat closer. A lot of Parenthetical Girls influence here with its layer upon layer of percussive noise and pain-laced vocals which make "I can’t believe I chose the mountains every time you chose the sea" sound like the saddest sentiment imaginable.
…So even on first listen this is already shaping up to be a massive album. Everything good about the band has been amplified and they’ve unleashed a gaggle of impressive new tricks. The way they’ve developed in the last three years or so is staggering. Los Campesinos! really don’t seem able to put a foot wrong at the moment.