| Los Campesinos! | |
|---|---|
The band's original line-up in October 2007 Top row: Harriet, Gareth, Neil, Tom Bottom row: Ollie, Aleksandra, Ellen |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Cardiff, Wales |
| Genres | Indie pop, Indie Rock, Noise pop, Twee pop |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Wichita, Arts & Crafts |
| Website | http://www.loscampesinos.com |
| Members | |
| Ellen Campesinos! Gareth Campesinos! Neil Campesinos! Tom Campesinos! Kim Campesinos! Rob 'Sparky Deathcap' Campesinos! Jason Campesinos! |
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| Past members | |
| Aleksandra Campesinos! Ollie Campesinos! Harriet Campesinos! |
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Los Campesinos! are a seven piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. Although the band formed in Wales, none of its members are Welsh. They released their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., in February 2008 and followed this up by releasing a record titled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, in October that year. Whilst many consider it to be an album due to its length, the band have always referred to it as a 'record' or EEP (Extended EP)[1] due to contractual and artistic reasons. Their second official album, entitled Romance Is Boring, was released on 1 February 2010. Their fourth full-length release, Hello Sadness was released on 14 November 2011.
Contents |
The group came together at Cardiff University in 2006, originally consisting of Neil Turner on guitar, Ellen Waddell on bass guitar, and Ollie Briggs on drums.[2] In March 2006, Tom Bromley joined the band, assuming the role of lead guitarist, later followed by Gareth Paisey - who became the band's principal lyricist - on lead vocals and glockenspiel, Harriet Coleman on violin and keyboard, and finally Aleksandra Berditchevskaia on vocals, keyboards, and melody horn.[2][3] 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."[4] All members of the band refer to their surnames as Campesinos!.
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 In November 2006, the band were signed by Wichita Recordings.[5]
Wichita 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.[6] In June 2007 the band released "You! Me! Dancing!" on limited edition 7" coloured vinyl, which later went on to feature in a Budwesier commerical, 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 International Tweexcore Underground" single (released 15 October 2007).
Their debut album, titled Hold on Now, Youngster... was released in the UK on 25 February 2008 and in the US on 1 April 2008.[7] 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 9 February 2008.
On 1 August 2008, the band announced that a record titled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed would be released before the end of the year, and the date later confirmed for this was 13 October, although that was later pushed back to 27 October 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.[8]
The band also announced tour dates of the UK for October 2008 with support from No Age and Times New Viking.
In April 2009, the band played in Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela, in their first South American gig.
Los Campesinos! recorded second official album Romance Is Boring in Stamford, Connecticut with John Goodmanson. The album was completed in June 2009. It was recorded in multiple sessions, with the second half of their North America tour in-between.[9]
In May 2009 it was announced on their blog that they had almost finished recording the album and that it was to be mixed in Wales in June. Two song titles were announced: "This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind" and "Straight in at 101".[10]
On 2 June 2009 it was announced via their website that Aleks planned to leave the band and return to her studies after a US tour in August.[11] On 24 June, they announced on their blog that the album was complete.[12] During 2009, the band toured with Rob Taylor, a musician who performs under the name of Sparky Deathcap. Rob has since become the official eighth member of the band during live shows, performing additional guitars, keyboards, percussion, and glockenspiel where needed.[13][14]
On 9 September 2009, the band released a song called "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future" as a free download. A video was also made for the song which was directed by the band's bassist, Ellen Campesinos!.[15]
On 21 September 2009, the band formally announced that Gareth's sister Kim Paisey would be replacing Aleks as the band's keyboardist and vocalist.[16]
The band premiered their new single, "There Are Listed Buildings" on their website on 30 September 2009. On 25 October, they announced the name, tracklist and release date—February 2010—for Romance Is Boring.[17]
"There Are Listed Buildings" was voted number one by listeners of Dandelion Radio in the 2009 Festive Fifty.
The band's second official album, Romance is Boring was released on 1 February 2010. The title track was released as the second single from the album two weeks later to coincide with an extensive U.K. tour.
The band had to cancel their performance at the Culture Shock festival on the campus of SUNY Purchase and the first two dates on their 2010 US tour, as they were unable to get out of Britain due to the air travel delays from the aftermath of the 2010 eruptions of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull.[18]
On 11 May 2010, the band made their American network television debut on Last Call with Carson Daly in which they performed "Romance is Boring", which was pre-recorded from their show at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles earlier that week.[19]
On 26 June 2010, Ollie Campesinos! announced that he left the band. Four days later, the band explained that they asked him to leave in order to go on as a group, and that all summer dates would continue as scheduled.[20][21] Just over two weeks after Ollie's departure, it was announced that the band would release a new EP entitled All's Well That Ends slated to be released on 19 July 2010. This is the first release to feature Rob Campesinos! and features reworkings of four songs featured on Romance is Boring.[22] On 15 July 2010 the band played a show in London for Wichita Records 10th Anniversary with new drummer Jason Adelinia,[23] who had been the band's road manager and merchandise seller since 2007. They later posted through Twitter an image entitled 'The band Los Campesinos!' with both Rob and Jason present, suggesting both are now full time members of the band.
On 9 December 2010, the band announced the launch of their quarterly fanzine, Heat Rash[24] and released a new Christmas song, "Kindle a Flame in Her Heart" as a free download through SoundCloud.[25] Each Heat Rash release is to include a fanzine, a limited edition 7″ and mp3s of exclusive Los Campesinos! music that will not be available elsewhere. The first Heat Rash release included tracks "Light Leaves, Dark Sees" and "Four Seasons".
The band have also announced that they are working on their 3rd album to be recorded with 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed' and 'Romance is Boring' producer John Goodmanson in Barcelona during April 2011, with a release slated for later in the year. Gareth Campesinos! also announced that he will be working on a side-project with Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls and Freddy Rupert of Former Ghosts under the name of Crying. They announced at the beginning of May 2011, that the recording of the album had finished. In an interview with online music website, Skiddle.com, frontman Gareth Campesinos confirmed that the album would have a more direct and pop orientated sound.[26]
The track "You! Me! Dancing!" from their 2008 debut album "Hold On Now, Youngster" is recently been featured in the current UK, US, and Canadian (April 2011) Budweiser commercial.
In August 2011, it was announced that Harriet, the band's violinist, would be leaving the band on amicable terms in September 2011 to continue her studies.[27]
On 31 August 2011, the band announced their third album would be titled Hello Sadness. The album was released on 14 November 2011 in Europe and 15 November 2011 in the United States.[28] The album includes ten tracks, including "The Black Bird, The Dark Slope", which has previously been preformed by the band during their live shows. The album was available to pre-order from the official Los Campesinos! website and blog, and exclusive to those who pre-order, came with a t-shirt, documentary DVD and a demo CD. "By Your Hand", the first single release from the album, was released as a free download on the band's website on 8 September 2011. The band followed this with releasing single "Hello Sadness", on 12 October 2011, a month before the album of the same name.
During November 2011, the band played several tour-dates, across large British cities, The USA and two dates in Japan. Tour dates in the USA have been announced for early 2012.
When the band first emerged on the indie pop scene, the were pigeonholed with the 'twee pop' movement, as a result of their lively, joyous music. The band have since their 2008 debut, Hold On Now, Youngster, worked hard to shake the image of this. With their second recording, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, critics generally applauded the band for adopting a new, darker guise. This continued through their following two albums, though whilst expanding the band's instrumental sounds.
As a band, they have before claimed to be heavily influenced by Pavement, Modest Mouse, Guided By Voices. Blur,[29] The Beautiful South, Broken Social Scene, Built To Spill, Deerhoof, Pulp, Belle & Sebastian, Arcade Fire, The Smiths, amongst others. Whereas they cite the literature of B.S. Johnson, obsessions with death, and football as their non-musical influences. [30]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US Top Heatseekers |
US Top Independent |
US Top Rock Albums |
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| 2008 | Hold on Now, Youngster...
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72 | 45[31] | — | - |
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
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112[32] | 43[33] | — | - | |
| 2010 | Romance Is Boring
|
92 | 3[31] | 28[34] | - |
| 2011 | Hello Sadness[17]
|
- | 3[31] | 37 | 48[35] |
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Sticking Fingers into Sockets
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| 2010 | All's Well That Ends
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| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Hold on Now, Youngster |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | |||
| 2007 | "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives"/ "Don't Tell Me to Do the Math(s)"
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— | Hold on Now, Youngster...
see also Sticking Fingers into Sockets |
"You! Me! Dancing!"
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— | ||
"The International Tweexcore Underground"
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#126 | non-album release | |
| 2008 | "Death to Los Campesinos!"
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#77 | Hold on Now, Youngster... |
"My Year in Lists"
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— | ||
| 2009 | "The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future"
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— | Romance Is Boring |
"There Are Listed Buildings"
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— | ||
| 2010 | "Romance Is Boring"
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— | |
"Kindle a Flame in Her Heart"
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— | non-album release | |
| 2011 | "By Your Hand"
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— | Hello Sadness |
"Hello Sadness"
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