Thursday, March 19, 2009

Los Campesinos! Band from Cardiff


Los Campesinos! are a seven piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales that formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. They released their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., in February 2008 and released their second album, entitled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, later that same year on October 27, 2008.

History

Formation and signing to Wichita: 2006

The group came together at Cardiff University in 2006, originally consisting of Neil on guitar, Ellen on bass guitar, and Ollie on drums.  In March 2006, Tom joined the band, assuming the role of lead guitarist and songwriter, later followed by Gareth on vocals and glockenspiel, Harriet on violin and keyboard, and finally Aleksandra on vocals, keyboards, and melody horn. According to Tom, he met Neil after overhearing him discussing Sufjan Stevens at a club. The band's earliest compositions were long pieces in the style of "post-rock," though no recordings from this era are known to circulate publicly.  The word campesino in Spanish translates to "peasant" or "country person."

The band performed their first gig on 8 May 2006 at a student union club night; they went on to play a number of increasingly well-received gigs around Cardiff. An early demo was recorded featuring the songs "Death To Los Campesinos!", "It Started With A Mixx", "Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks", and live favourite "You! Me! Dancing!". The songs were posted on the Internet, bolstering the popularity established by their energetic live shows and earning them airplay on Beth & Huw's evening show on BBC Radio 1 Wales. The band's reputation continued to grow, and in August 2006 landed them a slot supporting Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene.

Debut singles and Sticking Fingers Into Sockets: 2007

In November 2006, the band were signed by Wichita Recordings, who put out their first single on 26 February 2007, a double A-side featuring new songs "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" and "Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)". In April the band signed to Canadian label Arts & Crafts for Canadian and North American releases. In June 2007 the band released "You! Me! Dancing!" on limited edition 7" coloured vinyl, accompanied by a handful of dates playing Bath, Newport, Cardiff and London. Both singles (produced by Broken Social Scene collaborator Dave Newfeld) were compiled for North American release as Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, which was released on 3 July on Arts & Crafts. The band embarked on their first full UK tour in October, preceded by the "The International Tweexcore Underground" single (released October 15, 2007).


Hold on Now, Youngster... and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed: 2008

Their debut album, titled Hold on Now, Youngster... was released in the UK on February 25, 2008 and in the US on April 1, 2008.  They also embarked on a European and North American tour in support of the album. The NME rated the album 6/10, praising its musicality but criticising its cohesiveness, but other sources, such as Pitchfork Media and Drowned in Sound, lauded it. They made their TV debut on Tubridy Tonight on February 9, 2008.

On August 1, 2008, the band announced that a record entitled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed would be released before the end of the year, and the date later confirmed for this was October 13, although that was later pushed back to October 27, 2008. The band explained: "This is no post-album cash in. It's no B-Sides and rarities or 'songs that weren't good enough to be on the album cobbled together with some remixes and field recordings of Cardiff's indie scene'; it's ten all-new tracks that none of you have ever heard before." There are no singles to be released from the record, and its distribution is limited.

The band also announced tour dates of the UK for October 2008 with support from No Age and Times New Viking.

New Album 2009

Los Campesinos! are currently in Stamford, Connecticut recording a new album with John Goodmanson. The album probably won't be released till after June 2009. They are recording it in multiple sessions, with the second half of their current North America tour inbetween

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Los Campesinos!:Death To Los Campesinos!

Broken down like a war economy
Father Führer, don't be mad at me
Peasant child, you're into botany
Splitting necks and calling it dichotomy
"Beware", the sign on the door suggests
I'm better off with artificial intelligence

I invented you
I invented you
And I will destroy you

If you catch me with my hands in the till
I promise, sugar, I wasn't trying to steal
I'm just swimming in copper
To smell and pretend
Like a robot

Well, if a leopard doesn't change it's spots
You can't change my perceptions just from dots to dots
I swap the bruising for a bumping sensation
I'll be Ctrl-Alt-deleting your face with no reservations
And we'll stop fighting once your circuit board's igniting
Singing, I'm not finished, I'm not finished, no

Mistaking cables for veins can be quite misleading
Friction sparks, the metal made it look like bleeding

If you catch me with my hands in the till
I promise, sugar, I wasn't trying to steal
I'm just swimming in copper
To smell and pretend
Like a robot