Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
2008; Arts & Crafts; Cardiff, Wales
www.loscampesinos.com


The standard album review consists of three parts. The first section where you give an opening and discuss what ever the hell you want before getting to the music, the middle gives the sound of the record, its influences, lyrical quotes, song by song break down etc. and the last part is the conclusion and the "where this album fits in" in regards to the rest of the artists work. In my head over the last three days I amassed so much writing for part one of this review there threatened to be no second or third part at all.

I was going to talk about the difference between music of the intellect and music of intoxication (Apollonian and Dionysian for those of you who read too much) and how my main stay is intellect music but how intoxication music will always have a greater effect on me. i.e. I will always love Bob Dylan more then anything else but I will always love The Beatles more than Bob Dylan.

I was going to talk about the different kinds of angst, the Nirvana variety, the Elliott Smith variety, the Britpop variety, and the Modest Mouse variety, and their interplay within Los Campesinos.

I was going to talk about how ridiculous and amazing it is to find an album that was both pop music and punk as fuck without being remotely close pop-punk.

I was going to talk about the perception our generation seems to have about how the times of great movement-starting music is over and how Los Campesinos single handedly proves us all wrong.

I was going to talk about the sophomore slump and the view in rock music that a second album too soon is just songs not good enough for the first and an attempt to cash in on the success. And ask who releases their first two albums in the same year any more and where do they get off making them both good? And I was going to say how "prolific" and "constant touring" have become my two favorite phrases.

I was going to talk about how any use of violins in rock music before 2005 all tried to sound like Eleanor Rigby and all use after 2005 tried to sound like the Arcade Fire. I'd say how much this one felt like a medium between classical violin, fiddle, and electric guitar, and how much in place it felt in the music.

I was going to talk about the amazing lyrics that resonate with me and even work out of context. "Shout At The World Because The World Doesn't Love You" "I restored your mom's faith in men wile boring you to death" and the one that every review will quote "OH WE KID OURSELVES THERES FUTURE IN THE FUCKING BUT THERE IS NO FUCKING FUTURE"

I was going to devote an entire paragraph to the lines:
"As if I walked into the room to see my ex-girlfriend
(who by the way I'm still in love with)
sucking the face of some pretty boy
with my favorite band's most popular song in the background.
Is it wrong that I can't decide which bothers me most?"

I was going to say how through all this they never ever sound mopey or self pitying but retain so much fucking energy. Enough to set the room on fire.

I was going to talk about a seven piece band creating disjointed and chaotic music. And two guitarists that didn't seem to know the other one existed and just played they're own lead part. And how somehow this chaos is the most appealing thing in the world.

I was going to talk about how stupid I felt when I first herd the title track of this album. All this time I had been thinking of 2008 as a pretty good year for music but not as good as 2007. I should have been thinking of it as the year of Los Campesinos.

1. Ways To Make It Through The Wall
2. Miserabilia
3. We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
4. Between An Erupting Earth And An Exploding Sky
5. You’ll Need Those Fingers For Crossing
6. It’s Never That Easy Though, Is It? (Song For The Other Kurt)
7. The End Of The Asterisk

8. Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown # 1
9. Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time
10. All Your Kayfabe Friends

i whisper in your ear "this is my downfall"