Los Campesinos!- We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

We are always constantly preached the mantra that first impressions are the extremely important; but with LC!, you can go fuck that mantra. 'Indier-than-thou' types will pass LC! off as twee-pop with little to no-substance, but this is a superficial stance. That view may have held up with debut Hold On Now, Youngster (the lyrics at times are a bit sickly... but with WAB, WAD, this standpoint has no ground- LC! have a vicious bite. It was a side I had always seen in them- (in the live arena they alluded to this) but many had over looked, but that time is over.

We can talk about the music later, as firstly I think the package as a whole is worth looking at. It comes only thirty-three weeks after releasing debut album Hold on Now, Youngster... and contains ten completely new tracks, having been recorded over an eleven-day recording with John Goodmanson in his Seattle studio in June 2008. No singles or videos are to be made from the record, and the record release comes in a limited number, packaged in a box set with a custom designed box, a self-made dvd, a poster,badges and a 37 page 'zine including the lyrics for the record....gasp for air....and its a great package for the price of a normal cd- so before you've even put the CD in (thats if you haven't already downloaded it illegally...shock horror) you feel LC! care for you dear listener. First track "Ways To Make It Through The Wall" opens the album in traditional LC! gusto, but theres now a sting in LC!'s tail, opening line of the album being- "I think it's fair to say that I chose hopelessness...and inflicted it on the rest of us". "Miserabilia" continues the theme, and has that slap in the face you screamed for on LC!'s debut. The title track is possibly the strongest of the bunch- sticking to the winning LC! formula, but with a few different touches; but it is "You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing" that signals of the new direction LC! are trying to forge. The track opens rather melancholic, but by the end the guitars have lifted the track to a triumphant finale. "All Your Keyfabe Friends" ends the album in suitable style.

I don't want to give the impression that LC! have morphed into a leviathan-esque metal band of masochistic brutishness; the same twisted introspective, awkward-teenager lyrics are still intact, the xylophone still pounds in the choruses, and the sweet female backing vocals are still firmly in place, but LC! just now have an added edge. The lyrics are that little bit darker, the guitars are that little bit more distorted, the keyboards throb that little harder...where LC! will go next is anyones guess, but providing two albums of this quality in one year is a commendable feat to be respected by everyone, and the package is a lovable ornament in the age of digital downloads.

Joyous, skewed-pop 8.9/10

 

N.B- I attended the recent Shred Yr Face Tour with a LC! sceptic, and quite a sceptic he is. He passes LC! off as "poofy crap indie"- but as Gareth LC! introduced "Miserbelia" by saying "This is a song about how we are all going to die alone", my friend turns to me and says "They're dark...I never realised...it's beautiful"...