I was reading a review of a recent gig by Los Campesinos in Clash.com.
The person who wrote it, Robin Murray, was probably right. It was probably a powerful, arched, paint smatter of words and sounds colliding with each other like that famous picture of Garth Campesinos at the Bowery Ballroom falling to the ground. I will post the setlist Robin provided at the end.
Robin is also right when he says the new album, Romance Is Boring, is a “difficult and ambitious listen”.
I have listened to it a lot.
I have listened to it more than any other album this year and not because I like it more than any other album this year which I don’t (Contra and Animal are my faves so far) but because I am waiting for it to kick in. The last time I have a clear memory of waiting for an album to kick in so long was Costello’s Spike and though I could eventually hear “Chewing Gum” and “Deep Dark Turthful Mirror”, “God’s Comic” marked a major break in my admiration for EC.
Now Los Campesinos.
Garth never writes four words to a line when he can get away with fifty words. He pours on the old theme, the death of god as a prelude to the death of love, but he can’t out of his own way and though the tangle of language can build to an absolute aphorism the language is too dense too often.
Now too dense too often may well be a definition of Los Campesinos but on We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, the songs were strong enough to make the wade through the words worth the while. Romance is too histrionic, the melodies don’t merge, something like the atonal “Plan A” just plain aint there and though there are enough good songs, “I Just Sighed…”, “Heat Rash…” , the title track, to make it a pretty good album that still makes it the disappointment of the year.
Here’s the set list:
I Just Signed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know
Death to Los Campesinos!
Miserabilia
Letters from Me to Charlotte
There Are Listed Buildings
Romance Is Boring
Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1
My Year In Lists
Straight In At 101
This Is A Flag. There Is No Wind.
You! Me! Dancing!
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future…
Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks