Los Campesinos!: Hold On Now, Youngster
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Friday, 22, Feb 2008 07:35
Wichita, February 25th.
In a nutshell.
Bouncy. Happy. Witty. Vivid. Inspired.
What's it all about?
Hold On Now, Youngster is the long awaited album by the hotly-tipped uni-influenced group from Cardiff. After causing more than a stir on the uni scene since forming 2006, Los Campesinos! (Spanish for 'the farmers') specialise - term used advisedly - in indie-pop so rote and generic it appears to have been assembled via a manual.
Influences from the Cure to Bright Eyes are claimed to be part of this album and, with the help of Broken Social Scene producer David Newfield, this is a debut album to justify the praise from the national press.
Who's it by
Los Campesinos! originally consisted of Neil on guitar, Ellen on bass guitar and Ollie on drums - who met at university. In March 2006, they were joined by songwriter and guitarist Tom, later followed by Gareth on vocals and glockenspiel, Harriet on violin and keyboard, and finally Aleks on vocals and keyboards. All go by the surname of Campesinos!
As an example.
"The beats, yeah, they were coming out the speakers/And were winding up straight in your sneakers/And I'm dancing like every song who spends his bizzle/Like all my dance heroes would if they existed." - You! Me! Dancing!
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Very much doubt it. The NME or Q awards are more likely though, some sort of recognition would be worthy as a result of this effort.
What the others say
"They take a world of friends falling off couches and cold-eyed festival girls and multi-coloured gel pens and turn them into music that you can throw right back into that world. We all dance to songs about dancing, don't we?" - This Is Fake DIY
So is it any good?
Los Campesinos! arrive into a British indie scene which, if truth be told, is at one of its lowest ebbs since the death of the Britpop scene in about 1996. It is, however, in that period some 12 years ago that Space, Kula Shaker and Ocean Colour Scene came to rise and create - in places - some of the best music of that era.
As a result, the music industry is looking for bands like Los Campesinos! to stand up and make British indie music great again. Things go around in circles and the return of pop is clearly on the mainstream agenda.
In the midst of the gloom, Los Campesinos! could be the band to straddle the pop-indie divide. Their happy melodies and witty yet satirical lyrics combine to give a great feel good factor.
Opening track - and first single - Death To Los Campesinos! is, despite the title, a joyful ditty with insightful lyrics. This Is How You Spell "Hahaha, We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux-Romantics" isn't just one for the youths that like to change their MSN usernames to song titles, but also works perfectly as the world's first slice of bubblegum post rock. You! Me! Dancing! Is, to be truthful, unabashed happiness.
It takes all the best bits of British indie music over the last 30 years and combines them to produce a delightful record.
For all its unabashed indie fandom, Hold on Now, Youngster... varies from the music it worships in a very fundamental way.
Cynics will no doubt tar the band's admirers as undeveloped, ignorant, or stupid. But I'm happy.
8 /10
Richard Fox