NW Reviews: Los Campensinos! – Romance is Boring
God, why. There are many reasons why the music I review is far and few from being a "breakthrough" type artist. Some people, like Rachael Cantu and Matthew Price, have all the pieces to themselves and just might need some sort of push over the top to make them something special. Some artists, like Russian Circles and The American Dollar, just don't have a mass appeal but are good in what they do. If you aren't in one of these categories, whether you are just hunting for a special piece to your puzzle or whether you have it all and just don't mind where you are, then you are in this... special category. This category is the one for those who have a missing part. Erik Schau was once a solo artist without a band backing him. Adding that upped his chances for being more likable. Another way to look at it: The Fire Theft, which was Sunny Day Real Estate without Dan Hoerner, was missing that shimmering glee that Hoerner brought with his lead guitar. Los Campensinos! is that type of band. It's missing something.
Straight off the bat, if you don't like Gareth's voice then you probably won't like half of this album. Second off, I believe most of us in the US have been spoiled with British singers from the singer-songwriter field. There are plenty, but for some reason Fanfarlo is the only one that comes to mind. Los Campensinos! is the vocal antithesis of what you would immediately assume from British vocalists. This is the kind of vocals that you would be common to if you were listening to tons and tons of local bands from Cardiff. Second, the music itself isn't surprising that it's about 150% fun rock. This is most likely to cover the poor vocals (sorry guys).
You tell me. What is this? Have I heard this before? Is this a new twist? Why don't I like this????
I said it already. It's 150% fun rock. It's hard not to just like this music for what it's worth. They play it up very well, and if this is album is how they are in real life then they will go very far in the scene in my opinion. They have energy that precedes their musical capabilities (not saying it's bad musically, but it seems as if they write for the fun rather for the musical mastery). It's really hard for me to say this is going to be a bad album. Although.
It's missing better vocals if you couldn't tell. The vocalist is way harsh. I feel like this is the indie pop version of the Sex Pistols and we all get it already. The music is eons ahead of the lyrical creativity. Gareth, the frontman, was stated to have said this album is about "death and football". What comes to mind when I think of both in the same context is the time my dad told me that he would go to these soccer games in England (he's English) and take these thick magazines and roll them up in a way that would be practically rock-like. Then he'd smash people over the back of the heads because he was a drunk trouble-maker at the time. All the while, that scene plays in my head with sing-alongs and long strolls from the stadium back to someone's place for more drinks until someone throws up on the carpet or someone falls asleep in a bush. This album doesn't make me feel any single one of those feelings. Any of them. Death? I want to die after listening to this album more than twice, sadly. Football? I was optimistic for the sing-along factor but singing along to this guy's voice is like mimicking the tattooing techniques of a homemade tattooing video off YouTube. It hurts me to watch that crap, and I question why I am trying to attempt this feat. Along the same theme of the album, it's missing more. I feel that it's hitting a lot of right things, but it's lacking... vocal production. It's a killer that it might just only be that one thing that makes me not like this band, because I can usually feel past some fact like that and assume this band's potential regardless... but it really is the one thing this band is missing.
People who would like this: anyone who loves dance rock and Morrissey. Although, that is definitely subjective because I love Morrissey as much as the next scenester and I can't stand this album. But I feel that if you have a knack for getting over nasty chav-sounding accents then you probably will be able to enjoy this album. David Bazan once said about the band Criteria, "if Weezer went the right way after making Pinkerton, that's what Criteria would be". I believe something similar could be said about this band... but they aren't anywhere near Criteria or Weezer right now. It's definitely heart-felt and fun, but not quite enough to keep listeners of Morrissey, Criteria, Weezer, or general dance rock interested for very long. Others who would be interested... people who are into fun., Forgive Durden's new stuff, and Say Anything's latest release. I think these guys would be good touring buddies for any one of those bands.
As much as I personally don't like the singer's voice, the music is pushing the idea of this new musical-esque rock forward. Breaking down the structure, building it up more like short stories rather than formulaic intro-verse-chorus-breakdown-outro type songs. This album definitely has it's moments of brilliance, and trying to displace the vocals for something more likable helps me see where this band can be a few albums from now. If Brand New could change a leaf from Your Favorite Weapon to Deja Entandu then there is always hope for a band like Los Campensinos! It's just not today.
