She'd Bruise So Black They Watched It Fade Through the Full Spectrum of Colors

Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring

Arts + Crafts (2010)
Rating: 9

I typically try and avoid writing two posts in a row about the same band, but after two weeks of seriously good releases it's a little slow recently. I had hoped to use this post to discuss Louisville is for Lover 10, but despite the fact that I pre-ordered it I still have not received it (almost a week after it was released in stores). So here we are with another post about Los Campesinos!. Romance is Boring is a whole new beast for the massive group indie-pop-twee-punk septet, and honestly it is my favorite in their catalog and their most musically expansive. For one second let me leave the topic at hand, and return to the septet part of this whole business. Individually the seven members of Los Campesinos! are physically, stylistically, and personally (I don't know them, but each writes on a band blog) a living breathing wall chart of every type of person who frequents the bars I do, and well generally the entire hipster generation (included a video below that isn't from this album, but makes this point). Back to the album at hand, and man what an album. I bought this album after seeing videos for the first three of the singles, and realizing that this was the screaming along in the car album I've been needing for months now. "Romance is Boring" and "There Are Listed Buildings" are pop-punk sing-alongs at their best. "In Media Res" and "We've Got Your Back" are twee-punk (a genre that I grasp the sound of but have no idea what it really means) like Los Campesinos! albums past. What makes this album the bands best are the layers upon layers of strings, electronics, and organs that take songs that would typically stand out merely as great fist pumping anthems and elevate fantastic all round rock and roll songs. Add to the mix fierce songs like "Plan A" and "I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know", that frantically skip along on the back of stabbing heavy guitars and an overwhelming sense of doom before exploding into Los Campesinos! trademark group sing song chorus. The lyrics of Los Campesinos! songs have long been of a dark nature, but many of these new tracks add a foreboding musically atmosphere that takes Romance is Boring to a new level. The true standout tracks on this album, however, are the couple of track that deal with the darker side of the sexual and physical relationship between guys and gals. "The Sea is a Good Place to Think About the Future" deals with a female lead who has an eating disorder, and how her lover deals and struggles to help/understand. Then there is "Straight in at 101", by far my favorite track, that deals with a sexual relationship that is crashing down all around the "lovers". "Straight in at 101" contains a line that should stand as one of the most telling lines of this entire generation: "I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock, it seems the build-up takes forever, but you never get me off." Sick burn hipster Casanova. Romance is Boring is almost a sarcastic statement, because the album is case study after case study of romance that are anything but boring. Romance on this album is seldom (never) happy or punch drunk, but it is always exciting, engaging, and fun.

Straight In At 101 - Los Campe...

This track is from Los Campesinos! first album Hold On Now, Youngster, but makes the point that this band IS the hipster generation incarnate.