Los Campesinos!

[cobl04]

Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness - YouTube

 

[LemonMelon]

Wow, the sound quality is really awful. What I could pick out from that sounded extremely generic, like something Death Cab would come up with on an off day. On the plus side, the song is technically well written and definitely feels more propulsive than By Your Hand. Plus, it will probably benefit greatly from improved sound quality because I could tell there was an awesome build that happened near the end. That was cool.

Pinkerton I do not expect this album to be, but I just hope it doesn't rely on cheesy romantic cliches. He's already singing about hope and broken hearts and, ironically, nothing from these first two songs sounds as personal as it's supposed to; certainly less so than earlier releases. Where's the specificity? Where are the anecdotes? He fucking kills himself in the By Your Hand video. This is what happens when you pitch an album as "the emotional one," I guess.

Rumours of their demise into pathetic I-cut-myself-and-trace-the-blood-into-the-shape-of-your-face-ness have been grossly overexaggerated. Two from two so far.

This isn't a "rumor" so much as an assumption made because of their songwriting method: the band threw out an album's worth of material because they didn't feel the current material suited the dour place they were in, so Gareth cooked up something else.

 

[lazarus]

On the plus side, the song is technically well written and definitely feels more propulsive than By Your Hand.

By Your Hand may not be propulsive, but I don't know how one can ignore how infectious the chorus is, or how playful the keyboard part is, both interesting contrasts to the lyric.

And could you please tell me how these lyrics are non-anecdotal or personal?

I was sitting on my hands at the top-deck of the 178, spitting cusses at my face reflected in the windscreen pane. Throwing insults and calling names. Filthy SMSs that you sent through the day, by sundown become tame, so I set it in motion again.

But fates a cruel mistress, girl, the prettiest in the world. She dresses loosely in a bathrobe with her hair up in curls, �cause we were kissing for hours with her hands in my trousers, she could not contain herself, suggests we go back to her house. But here it comes, this is the crux, she vomits down my rental tux.

And I�ve been dangling in limbo, barely keeping my cool. It�s like I�m snookered �tween the back cushion and touching the 8 ball. I keep replaying my turn, until your patience is shot, you peel your white gloves off seductively before you respot. Your fingertips leave marks and graze, I lay you down atop the baize: I�m not sure if it�s love anymore, but I�ve been thinking of you fondly for sure. Remember what your heart is for.


That's all classic Gareth if you ask me.

 

[LemonMelon]

Personally, I find those lyrics to be quite surreal for Gareth and not nearly as direct as I would like, as if he's being incredibly evasive about what any of that means, but there definitely is a story going on there. It is an "anecdote," just a particularly weird one. It reminds me of what Alex Turner has been writing lately.

 

[lazarus]

I don't know how you can levy charges of being both generic and surreal at the same writer for his current work.

Regardless, we won't be able to make any full critique until the album comes out. FWIW, There Are Listed Buildings and Romance is Boring (both released as "singles") are prob my two least favorite songs on the last album.

 

[LemonMelon]

There are things I dislike about By Your Hand's lyrics, as I mentioned, but I never meant to call them generic. The title track's lyrics were what prompted my remark, and we can't really discuss that track because you haven't heard it yet. I too am avoiding obsessively listening to either until release date; haven't heard By Your Hand since the day it came out.

And you're absolutely right. I tend to find most of the depth and quality of Los Camp records in the deep cuts, so I'm not especially worried. I think this album, if any, will make better sense heard from front to back.

 

[iron yuppie]

The title track's lyrics were what prompted my remark, and we can't really discuss that track because you haven't heard it yet.

Why not? It's an Interference tradition.

 

[LemonMelon]

Why not? It's an Interference tradition.

Miracle...Drug? I knew they were on the stuff! This is going to be Pop all over again!

Spoiler

HOLY FUCK HAVE YOU HEARD THE BEACH CLIP OH FUCK DO I WANT AN ORGY WITH MUMBLING SPANISH MEN RIGHT ABOUT NOW

Spoiler

Guh, why is a song about drugs so boring? Fuck Steve Lillywhite.

 

[cobl04]

Laz I thought you were abstaining.

 

[lazarus]

I listened to By Your Hand, but that's it.

(and I've listened to it A LOT)

 

[bono_212]

Drip drip drip drip drip drip drip drip

 

[lazarus]

Spoiler

 

[cobl04]

 

[bono_212]

Trying to download these on my cell phone is SUCH a bitch.

 

[bono_212]

This is pretty great stuff. Gonna get some sleep now. I'll listen to it again tomorrow and hopefully have more to say. Too tired right now.

 

[lazarus]

First impression: solid album, doesn't quite have the diversity or density of Romance Is Boring. Having said that, I thought it got off to a much better start; I'd take the opening three tracks here over the previous album's counterparts (I really love when the title track kicks in).

Is Aleks missed? Yes, and it seemed like Kim was being kept in the background, but then The Black Bird, The Dark Slope features her prominently. Her voice is not as alluring as Aleks', but after a decent verse she begins another part in a higher register that sounds double-tracked and is really, really good. This low/high thing is repeated again before the end of the song, which is definitely a stand-out on the album

Second half other than that didn't really knock my socks off, though Baby I Got The Death Rattle was great. The biggest letdown of the album was the closing track Dark Leaves, Dark Sees Pt. II, which really crawled and never went anywhere. Part I of this song, from the Heat Rash EP, was a lot better.

Overall this reminds me of We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, which also had a killer opening, but didn't satisfy overall on the same level as the album before it, coming off a bit slight to the LP before it. And WABWAD didn't finish strong, either. Of course, that album had the title track, Miserabilia, Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1, which may all be better than anything on here. But I'd say that Hello Sadness is a bit more consistent.

 

[LemonMelon]

It's pretty decent, better than I was expecting but a lot of the issues I had with the singles carried over. As terrific as Songs About Your Girlfriend was, the BAND energy there is in pretty short supply throughout. There are some moments that remind me of how strong the band as a whole can be (Kim single-handedly saving that insipid Black Bird song, the inspired drumming throughout, etc.), but this album feels too much like a mopey Gareth solo album to me.

And that's unfortunate, because this is undoubtedly his worst album lyrically. So many lame cliches about birds flying, bleeding, broken hearts, tears, lungs, and other emo crap that doesn't belong anywhere near a Los Camp album. Gareth is easily the worst part of the record.

However, the first side in general is very good, and I even liked the lead singles I was skeptical about in context. Plus, Songs About Your Girlfriend and Life Is A Long Time are excellent. Then Death Rattle comes in and shoots the album full of life right when it needs it most.

I'll give it a few more listens and hope it grows on me.There are some fundamental problems here I don't know if I can get past, but the melodies are generally not among them. It's very pretty stuff, and well sequenced, so it's definitely not a bad record, but they aren't playing to their strengths here either. If this was a new album from a band I'd never heard of, I would probably be a lot kinder to it.

 

[cobl04]

Couldn't help but be disappointed. Some great tunes - By Your Hand (shame it was a bit of a red herring), the next three, Death Rattle... but shit, where is In Medias Res? I Just Sighed? This is a Flag? Straight in at 101? You Me Dancing? Death to Los Camp! 2007? Song for the Other Kurt?

I'll still buy it, but damn. Romance is Boring remains a phenomenal album, and this is just really disappointing in comparison. There's nothing that even comes remotely close to being as good as In Medias Res.

 

[LemonMelon]

In Medias Res is, too, my favorite Los Camp song and I don't hear that ambition in the arrangements or storytelling most of the time here on Hello Sadness. There were a lot of bummer songs on Romance Is Boring, but that's not all they were.

 

[bono_212]

I think you're holding it to the same unfair standard you hold MGMT to, if you're looking for another "In Medias Res". The idea of expecting a band to write a stellar, life-altering, best track ever each time they produce a new album is only going to lead to disappointment.

 

[cobl04]

Yeah that's probably a fair call. And a bit contradictory too given I can judge Mylo Xyloto on its own merits without comparing to Viva La Vida. It just makes it harder because I loved Romance so goddam much. I think more listening will take me away from that.

 

[lazarus]

These are all initial impressions, even though we are all prone to hyperbole at one time or another.

I love In Media Res (still can't believe they didn't play it at my show--who doesn't play the first song on their new album?), but I think I like By Your Hand a little more, even if it isn't as complex musically or lyrically.

 

[bono_212]

Very true, Laz. Hopefully it didn't come across like I was upset at you, Cobbler, was just pointing out something I noticed.

I really think this album will grow on people once they can separate it from the others, but we'll see

 

[cobl04]

I'm sure I'll end up liking in its own right. Just listening to Romance is Boring. I didn't really listen closely to the lyrics for the new one, but I didn't notice anything as straight-to-the-heart as I Just Sighed.

I've displayed marriage proposals on jumbotrons of ball games you've not been at
I've written eulogies in guest books in galleries in the hope that you might pass

And that's just two lines. I mean, the whole song is emo as fuck, but they just pull it off so well.

 

[mikal]

Trying to download these on my cell phone is SUCH a bitch.

do you use torrent? i use tTorrent app for android, works like a charm.

 

[iron yuppie]

There is a torrent app? Why the hell would Android let that on the market? Or are these apps just not monitored at all?

 

[bono_212]

do you use torrent? i use tTorrent app for android, works like a charm.

I don't like to torrent, but that's an option I had not considered!

There is a torrent app? Why the hell would Android let that on the market? Or are these apps just not monitored at all?

The thing about Android is that you don't HAVE to download from the Android market. So even if they've taken the Torrent app off the market, you can just download the app online. That's what happened with the Grooveshark App. With the lawsuits and legality of Grooveshark up in the air, Android decided to take the App off the market. You can still download it from Grooveshark's site, however.

 

[mikal]

this is actually my first experience with this band. just never really got around to them. so far, i'm impressed. gonna check out Romance is Boring as well.

 

[lazarus]

 

[nielsgov]

I love the titletrack and Songs About Your Girlfriend. The rest sounded pretty good too on first listen.