Los Campesinos! -- ROMANCE IS BORING

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I understand all of these words, but I have no idea what this means:

On Ollie
June 30, 2010, 4:16 pm
Filed under: WHEAT

Hey.

You might have seen a blogpost from Ollie the other day announcing his departure from the band, and we feel like we should offer a few words of explanation, publicly.

This is really tough to talk about for so many reasons. I guess first off, you should know that the last few weeks have been pretty horrible for everyone, especially Ollie. We didn’t think we’d ever be in this position and it’s been hard enough to deal with privately, let alone publicly, but we’ve certainly taken no pleasure whatsoever in any of this: asking one of our best friends to leave the band we formed together really does feel as shit as you would expect.

It’s obviously difficult to explain this decision in a sensitive way, because Ollie’s been nothing but professional and genuinely lovely throughout his time in this band, and has continued to be, even now. Any of you that have met him will know what he’s like, and what a good guy he is.

So we feel we should stress that the reasons for this decision were never personal nor down to any lack of effort or professionalism on Ollie’s part; we still love and respect Ollie deeply. Please understand that it’s a decision we all felt we had to make for Los Campesinos! to be able to continue as a band at all.

We’ve had over three brilliant years with Ollie and made three records I think we’re all proud of, and in that time he’s always been enthusiastic and hard-working, and, well, just an all-round nice guy. Hopefully this decision won’t make any of us less proud of what we’ve achieved together, as it really has been a pleasure being in a band with him. Again, we can’t emphasise enough just how shit this whole situation is, but we hope you’ll understand.

There is no danger of this being the end of Los Campesinos!, and we will definitely continue more enthusiastically and stronger than ever. All scheduled gigs will continue as planned.

LC! x
 
Yeah, I can't even begin to understand what that post is alluding to. What did they just think he was a shitty drummer or something? Why else would they "ask him to leave," you know? Sounds fishy.
 
If they hadn't released that statement, everyone would have just assumed he pulled an Aleks and dropped out for school or something. Now it's just straight up confusing.
 
What did they just think he was a shitty drummer or something?
That was my first thought, based on the wording. Hard-working and nice guy. Nothing about being skilled, though.

Or maybe he had some sort of incident where he got arrested or was banging somebody's mom or something. Maybe he got deported from America. Who knows.
 
If they hadn't released that statement, everyone would have just assumed he pulled an Aleks and dropped out for school or something. Now it's just straight up confusing.

Word. Drummers come and go, though. Notoriously spotty.

Notice, too, the title of Ollie's post: "Dry route to Devon, So great, like heaven, I think that we are losing a way."

Notice that it's from a Pavement jam, "Westie Can Drum."

Notice the lyrics to "Westie Can Drum":

3:03
The seconds they are sequins and the
minutes string
Raveled 'round a mannequin
A formless space, a party line at last that
We can all embrace
And segue to the burning masses
10:50
Don't question, just get in
I think that we are losing our way
Westie, he cannot drum

Half past noon
Visualize a centaur baying at the moon
His profile is a silver circle
Brings to mind the portraits on the
coinages and Lincoln's beard
Then why's he got a horse's body?
Person in the cruiser, your lover
You'll lose him
I think that we are losing our way
Westie, he cannot drum

5:19
Deluded like a Dixiecrat, I told ya
Clog latrine
And clean it like a Dixiecrat
And deck the halls with spirolina
Dry route to Devon, so great, like heaven
I think that we are losing our way
Westie, he cannot drum
No, Westie, he cannot drum


La, la, la, la, la, la, la
I got a knife, I got a knife
I got a la, la, la, la, la, la, la
I got a light, I got a night
I got a night
I got all night. I got all night
I got all night, I got all night
I got all night, I got a knife
I got a light, I got a night
I got a knife, I got a knife
I got a knife
 
Notice the none-too-subtle nods to knife crime at the end of the Pavement song, too. This story just keeps unraveling.
 
Notice the none-too-subtle nods to knife crime at the end of the Pavement song, too. This story just keeps unraveling.

Is this the long-lost connection between Pavement, Shuttlecock, and Los Campesinos? No wonder they're my favorite bands!

In the shadows...Ollie gets axed.


Also, Gary Young rides again. I would've killed to see this. Fuck the Pavement thread. I can't wait that long.

Gary Young's a buffoon. I couldn't care less about seeing him play with Pavement.
 
Oh, that was another thing that killed me about In the Loop (way to resume a conversation in another thread......), the uttering of "knife crime" in the film.

Anyway.....good on Los Camp for shit-canning someone they love and respect in order to improve the band's future.
 
Was his drumming really taking that much away from the band? Come on.
 
On of the lessons SM says he has learned from rock'n'roll:

Onstage, make sure you make the effort to give people a show.

Pavement’s [notoriously barmy] first drummer Gary Young was just so hammy – whatever he could find, he’d play with it. He handed out celery to the crowd and did handstands. He found some lobsters once in Boston… he bought some and he was playing with them – poor lobsters. It was cute; it was coming from a good place, from the punk rock days – that kind of goofy Dead Kennedys, Frank Zappa place. He was making a real effort to give people a show and there was no barrier between him and the crowds.

At the time we might have been uptight about being cool or something because we were 24 – you don’t want to be a geek, and obviously that worry comes off you. That’s why guys who are 24 don’t get laid as much as guys who are 34, because they’re worried about all that stuff. Not that Gary was getting laid.
 
Whatever. Maybe SM learned the "barrier between the crowd" lesson late, but I used to talk to the other four guys from the band before and after shows, and they were never standoffish.

One time in Boston I had a funny conversation with Steve West during the opening act, about their new tour shirts, and after the show was over he walked right over to me (I was against the stage in front of SM's spot, as always), and put a setlist and drumstick right in my hand. There are also two separate occasions where I yelled something from the floor and one of the band members responded to me (and not in a derogatory fashion).
 
I think that Gary Young is primarily a fan of being awesome. All other interests are secondary, at best.

And we of course don't know whether or not Ollie's dismissal was talent-related, although it at least seems to me like that's pretty likely. But I can't say that I ever noticed any trouble, the few times that I've seen the band. Maybe shit just got gnarly, over the course of the last few weeks? Or, again, it's something else entirely. I don't know. Maybe the lyrics were just a snarky parting shot?
 
WEAK.jpg
 
I actually find it hard to believe they dismissed him for skills, because it's not like he's a particularly bad drummer.

The note from the band is awful. All we can do is speculate. What else did they expect would happen?
 
Everyone on their forum (link from the website) thinks it's because he is a shitty drummer and struggles to keep time during the gigs.
 
maybe it was a drunk post?

We Are Beautiful/Doomed was one of the records i bought here in the States. can't wait to get home and give it a spin.
 
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