United State of Electronica

U.S.E. has been around for quite a while, and I've seen them in concert a few times - mostly by accident - but I'm still on a plodding path when it comes to actually getting their music. It's not that I don't like them or that it takes a while to get into them, because neither of those things are true. They're really upbeat, all of their songs and remixes that I've heard are great, and I would love to grab an album or two. However, I can say that about so many bands right now that it loses its meaning, so all I can do is add them to some playlists on Hype Machine and Playlist.com, and write about them here. Emerald City and It's On are the best songs I've heard from them, but that's no indication, so go listen to them yourself!

Best band (electronica)

My love of Passion Pit began with their first EP and has lasted ever since. Their fantastic debut was dampened slightly but what I regard as a less-impressive LP release (still great! I just liked Chunk of Change a whole lot more!). Surprisingly enough, this post is not about Passion Pit. They are the runners-up.

The glory (small as it is) here has to go to Los Campesinos!, whom I have been enamored with for a little longer. They've also been around longer, though I got only that train a little late (early enough to catch their debut full-length, though). I also haven't yet picked up their newest LP (Romance Is Boring) because I can't really afford it, but based on the tracks I've heard I'm willing to give this category to them anyways. The title track alone is good enough to warrant a purchase. A friend of mine (my erstwhile partner in this whole blogging business) showed me one of their videos, and I grabbed Hold On Now, Youngster on vinyl (it comes with some great pack-ins: a poster and a second platter with an extra song on one side and some art engraved on the other).

To summarize what Los Campesinos do with music, I'm going to go with saying that they manage to tell a coherent idea through nearly incoherent lyrics. Every line, on its own, would seem to be part of a nonsense song. It's not entirely unfair to say that some of their numbers are nonsense songs. But then you get one like You! Me! Dancing! or International Tweexcore Underground, that tells an involved narrative about the music scene and its effects on people, and you're forced to realize that you're listening to incredibly poppy electronica with a finely-honed edge, and that it actually has something to tell you.

Since I've apparently gotten myself into a cycle of including lyrics in my posts, one of the best ones off the top of my head is: "We have to take the car, 'cause the bike's on fire/We cannot trust your friends, 'cause they were born liars" from "This is How You Spell 'Hahaha We Destroyed the Hopes and the Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics'". Yes, Los Campesinos write more eloquent song titles than most bands write song lyrics.