Los Campesinos! -- HOLD ON NOW, YOUNGSTER...

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If you shout...

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Without a doubt, the best album of this very young year. If something tops this, I will be fucking stunned. Easily and at least an 8.5/10, which as most people know is shockingly higher than I'd rate most records. Discuss, and if you're a non-believer, then explain to me how you can hate life enough not to adore this record. Even better than Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, and so good that it doesn't even matter than "The International TWEEXCORE Underground" is suddenly a non-album single. Offensively great.
 
Isn't 8.5 what Pitchfork gave it? You're a good soldier!

They get instant cred from me for covering an old Pavement track on their EP.

I can't stop listening to it. CAN'T STOP.

I think the Jicks still have my favorite of the year, though.
 
yeah, this album is a stunner. i wasn't expecting this...
every time i listen to it i have a new favorite. today my #1 is "And We Close Our Eyes and Exhale in Unison...".
brilliant, cluttered, frantic, joyful. i can't wait to have a party with this one blasting...
 
Could that female singer possibly be as hot as she sounds on the album?

I don't think so.

But I'll know for sure when I see them on MAY 16!!!

And I pick up more lyrical gems each time I hear it. Very, very witty without being precious.
 
Also, while this is a PopMatters piece (which means that it's pretty badly written and oftentimes confused about what it's trying to say/do/be/etc.), it still pretty well hits the nail on the head. I'm notoriously unwilling to overrate records, and my favorite albums of any given year or decade are usually "only" around what I'd consider to be between 8.5 and maybe, at the upper end, 9 out of 10. The conflict obviously felt by this writer pretty well sums up what I have been going through, with this record, for the past few months. I even payed, like, the equivalent of $30 USD for the Japanese version, at the Disk Union down the block from my apartment. Genius!

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/56995/los-campesinos-hold-on-now-youngster/
 
Can't pick a favorite right now. They're all so good. Thanks for posting those videos, If you shout.
 
Think nothing of it, B. I think that the video for "You! Me! Dancing!" is literally one of the thirty or so greatest music videos I've ever seen. Ever. I knew absolutely nothing about the band, when I first saw it, last July, and I was instantly hooked. It just...man, I don't know. It just is, and it's sweet as fuck.
 
thetitans2k said:
What kind of music is this?

Sounds like "Gold Soundz" with glockenspiels, more rollicking tempos, and boy/girl vocals, instead of just ol' Stevsie. More or less.

Watch the videos. They'll tell you all you need to know.
 
If you shout... said:
Think nothing of it, B. I think that the video for "You! Me! Dancing!" is literally one of the thirty or so greatest music videos I've ever seen. Ever. I knew absolutely nothing about the band, when I first saw it, last July, and I was instantly hooked. It just...man, I don't know. It just is, and it's sweet as fuck.

Well said!! I'm not sure where Chiba City is, but I was just rereading passages of Bill Flanagan's "U2-At the End of the World" and the parts about Tokyo are most interesting, particularly the descriptions of the city, its nightlife and surroundings. Maybe I'll get there someday.
 
barlowdog said:


Well said!! I'm not sure where Chiba City is, but I was just rereading passages of Bill Flanagan's "U2-At the End of the World" and the parts about Tokyo are most interesting, particularly the descriptions of the city, its nightlife and surroundings. Maybe I'll get there someday.

An amazing place, no doubt. Sadly, I missed this band when they were in Tokyo, several months ago, because tickets were like $75 USD for about a 35-minute set, as a part of a "New Style British Invasion Set Party," or whatever the hell the Liquid Room was calling it. I dunno. At any rate, I basically live in Tokyo. About 30 minutes, by train. Good times, but not as good as this band or this record.
 
Chiba's nice, but nothing compares to my beloved Saitama. :wink: I can't remember any more, are you working for the JET program or something else, If you shout? I ate at one of those fake Denny's (can't remember the name of the restaurant for the life of me right now, it's a chain in Japan, same type of crap as Japan Denny's) in Chiba one of the last times I was there. Fascinating story, eh?


Anyways, I really liked the video for You, Me, Dancing, but didn't care for the voice/song all that much. How's this album in comparison?
 
Those chimes in You! Me! Dancing! have caused me to declare the song their Born to Run.

And IYS, do you have the bonus track The Year Punk Broke (My Heart)? I simply can not listen to the album without that tacked onto the end. It is SUCH a better closer than Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks (which I love), with that long instrumental section. Just perfect.
 
Yeah, I have it. I'm not even sure why it's called a bonus track, though. In all the countries I've seen this record, I have seen exactly one copy of it without that track--some random-ass vinyl. In Japan, the bonus is just a copy of the The International Tweexcore Underground EP. "Punk Rock" is even listed as an album cut.

There are several places you may be thinking of, mofo. Saizeriya? Yoshinoya? Skylark? Jonathan's? Denny's itself? Really, the list goes on...

Also, I have no problem with Saitama except the widespread use of the Keisei line, which is overpriced, slower-than-shit, and excessive. Good times, good people, good etc., over there.
 
Jonathan's it is!!

Saitama admittedly does live up to it's boring stereotype, but it's still a decent enough place. Keisei is ultra-slow. Back before the shinkansen was put in for the Olympics, I actually took it most of the way to Nagano.... Needless to say, that was not a fun ride.

Speaking of Japan, I may be in Tokyo for a week or two this summer. If so, you'll have to tell me some good music stores to hit up. I spent a week in Yokohama last year and only had a day in Tokyo, so I never had time to go to any.
 
How dare we let this thread fall back to page 2?

I think everyone needs to listen to it again today to remind themselves how this is owning everything.
 
lazarus said:
How dare we let this thread fall back to page 2?

I think everyone needs to listen to it again today to remind themselves how this is owning everything.

Might have something to do with the 400 daily new survivor and game threads.

:(

I'll watch some of their videos and give them more of a chance, as it seems my initial impressions may have been wrong.
 
u2popmofo said:


Might have something to do with the 400 daily new survivor and game threads.

:(

I'll watch some of their videos and give them more of a chance, as it seems my initial impressions may have been wrong.

There's no seeming about it. If you didn't think that they were the best non-The Hold Steady band in the world, upon first listen, then you were wrong as shit. This record is stunning.

Laz, have you heard the single for "My Year In Lists," yet? I haven't, but it certainly sounded novel enough to check out, on paper; although, the single for "Tweexcore" sounded like a good idea, too, and that didn't turn out so hot (one of 2007's best A-Sides notwithstanding...speaking of that, it's crazy that this one band, over the course of an EP and a single was responsible for several of the year's best songs, including "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives," "You! Me! Dancing!," that jaw-dropping cover of "Frontwards," and, of course, "The International Tweexcore Underground"). I guess that I'll have to listen and report, at some point.

Also worth mentioning that this band (along with SFA, BSS, and the magnificent Chikita Violenta before it) has proven that Dave Newfeld is probably the most talented (or at least has the best current batting average of any) non-hip-hop producer in music. His resume is starting to look disgusting. If you haven't heard "Rotation," by Chikita Violenta, then do so. You'll never stop thanking me. This guy has really figured out his sound, and the full-throttle-yet-beautiful production on Hold On Now, Youngster... just confirms the man's remarkable talents both behind the boards and in terms of getting the absolute best out of the bands with which he is working. I cannot wait to see what happens, if he keeps moving up, like this. Hey Venus! sounded just remarkable, and I love how he was able to get such a crisp, succinct record out of SFA while also managing to make bloated masterpieces like You Forgot It In People with BSS. His range is ever expanding, and it's time we took notice en masse.

As for record stores, mofo, I actually know shockingly few, given the maddeningly high price of CDs, over here. I do most of my "shopping" on SLSK, and I know of no more than approximately 3298742937 AMAZING hip-hop vinyl shops, in Shibuya. If you're not looking for really random, sometimes illegal promo vinyl copies of, like, "Zulu Nation Throwdown," then I don't know if I can help. I found a couple of reasonably cool, really tiny music joints in Kichijoji (in the vaguest possible vicinity of the park and the Ghibli Museum), but that's about it. Many apologies!
 
I'm not yet ready to stop fawning over this majestic record, so here's a bump. Quick, somebody agree with me!!!
 
Bringing this thread back, baby!

Just saw them tonight in D.C. At first you think, do they really need 7 people up there? But they're all doing something essential to bringing across the full power of the band. A lot of energy, and the crowd was giving it right back to them.

The highlight was of course You! Me! Dancing!, and the audience was cheering as the band fiddled with familiar notes before starting, and didn't let up until well over 2 minutes into the song.

Appropriately, they closed with Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks, and then came back out for the encore of The Year Punk Broke (My Heart), as it should be.

You also can't beat a whole band and audience screaming "Since we...became...accelerated readers...we never...leave...the house!"

Also in the set was the cover of Pavement's Frontwards (recorded on their EP), as well as big single The International Tweecore Underground.

So happy for the success of these guys.
 
Yeah, I was definitely wrong. I hate all of you assholes, like I need even more new music.


Why the hell couldn't the search function find this thread? The name of the band is in here a kajillion times. Search absolutely sucks now since the "update". You think that would have improved. Whateva.
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