I guess I just post David Bazan videos now

Album Review: Romance is Boring - Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos' third studio album (of four), Romance is Boring was released in 2010 to follow up the band's two album releases in 2008: Hold On Now, Youngster... and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed. The whole album is strong, and I would definitely recommend it. I'm not sure how I ever considered this band as electronica (they're not, at all, in any sense of the word), but the crazed guitar work on this and earlier albums might be a clue. As is my wont, I'm going to list a couple of my favorite tracks - in case you want to check them out before you buy:


"There Are Listed Buildings" - Possibly the most reminiscent of Hold On Now Youngster, this second of the album's singles earns its place with quick guitars, an upbeat percussion track, and great lyrics.


"Romance Is Boring" - Fast, angry without losing its heart, and with a really fantastic music video to boot. Deserving of its position as the title track and third single.



"Straight In At 101" - What might be the best breakup song of all time, this is certainly far out in front in the running for Los Campesinos' most explicit tune. That, however, is its charm: lyrics like "I've been playing straight chicken with gay girls (it's never enough)", it's not hard to feel the singer's frustration.


"The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future" - I didn't really realize that this band could write a truly sad song. I was wrong. Dialing their characteristic speed and energy back doesn't stop the rapid-fire vocal delivery, and the contrast only makes this first single all the more affecting.


You can check out a handful of Los Campesinos' stuff on the KEXP Song Of The Day podcast, which usually releases at least one song from each of their albums.

Back soon

Whoops. Forgot to post for four months. A quick site redesign, and hopefully I'll get right back to it.

Merry Christmas

Art Brut...

...takes a loooong time to figure out. The review of Brilliant! Tragic! may take a while longer.

Top Ten Albums That Shaped My Music Taste

I got an idea that both Hannah and I could write about, so here it is! Hopefully her Ten will be up sometime in the next few days.


I think that more than any others, these ten albums were massively influential to my music taste. They're in the order that I heard them, as far as I can remember. Accompanying this post is a mix of ten songs, one from each of the albums, on 8tracks.com.

1. II - The Presidents of the United States of America
   I think that the first Presidents album may have been the first album I ever got that was actually intended for adults, not kids. The second one, though, is what made me a fan for life. Realizing that a band (rock stars! When you're six, everyone who can play a guitar is automatically a rock star) was singing about a mountain just south of my hometown ("Volcano")  blew my dumb little kid brain. I can guarantee that I didn't understand what half the lyrics meant - "Bath of Fire" and "Supermodel" were big examples of that - but I knew I loved them. The song on the mix is "Mach 5", which I believe is the reason that I own the full series of Speed Racer on DVD today.
   
2. Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone? - Harvey Danger
   I probably spent two full years of my life wondering what the title of the song was that had "I'm not sick, but I'm not well" in its chorus. The internet was utterly beyond my comprehension, and somehow my father had forgotten seeing this band at Bumbershoot, so he was no help. Eventually I found the song title and band in the credits to American Pie, and got the album for Christmas. I listened to it so many times that I still get thrown off when my iPod is on shuffle and the songs don't follow the order on the album. I now own ever Harvey Danger EP & LP except their rarities album, and accidentally (no, really accidentally) found out where the lead singer lives. The song on the mix is "Old Hat", which is the one song that I always get confused about, even after listening to it for ten years.
   
3. Add It Up (1983-1993) - The Violent Femmes
   At some point in middle school, my father bought me four very eclectic albums: Thank You by Stone Temple Pilots, My Private Nation by Train, More Than You Think You Are by Matchbox Twenty, and this. I'm pretty sure it was the final order from Columbia House, or a sale or something. I pretty much thought that this album was the most twisted, raunchy, forbidden thing that rock and roll could accomplish (I'm pretty sure the Frank Zappa and Alice Cooper best-of albums that my dad also got me had the same effect). It's the only album of those four that I still listen to tracks off of at least once a day, and the only one of the four that I admit to liking in mixed company. The song on the mix is "36-24-26", which pretty much speaks for itself. This was the hardest song for me to pick, by far.
   
4. Comfort Eagle - Cake
   I believe that this album planted the seed in my head that trumpets in rock music are cool. I stand by that, and my love of swing revival and the Dusty 45s proves it. The song on the mix is "Shadow Stabbing", which has a line about a typewriter that I quite enjoy.
   
5. Plastic Surgery Disasters/In God We Trust Inc. - The Dead Kennedys
   Oh, punk rock. You and I have had a tumultuous relationship, but this is the album that started it. My love of the Dead Kennedys continues, but trying to branch out to a few other hardcore bands killed my love for the genre. Going to a DOA and MDC concert buried it for good. But in high school? This album was the best. Well, about half of it was the best, the other half was mediocre. Luckily, the album was really long, so that worked out. The song on the mix is "Bleed For Me", which made me feel like I knew way more about politics than I did.
   
6. Common Market - Common Market
   Yup, this is the first hip-hop album I ever got. I checked it out from the library. I have no regrets. From here I went to Blue Scholars, also from the library, to actually going to shows and buying my albums. Unlike the first three albums in the list, this one is the first that really diverged from my dad's taste in music. I suppose that at 16, I was a little late to that party. The song on the mix is "G'Dang Diggy", which is a silly name for a song.
   
7. Nuclear Winter - The Lonely Forest
   Have you ever gone to a show with ten other people, where you didn't know any of the bands, been convinced to stay by the lead singer of one of the bands, and ended up buying their album with the weekend? Then a few years later, after attending many shows and buying many more albums of theirs, seen that same band play only a few hundred feet away at an arena to hundreds and hundreds of people? John Van Deusen once gave me a hug for being at that first show. I love the Lonely Forest! The song on the mix is "Hangman", which I didn't know I liked until I re-listened to it today.
   
8. Singles 45's And Under - Squeeze
   This is the album that made me realize that I needed to steal a lot more music from my mother's CD collection. It also was when I realized that something called "New Wave" existed, and that it was the best thing ever. All the indie rock I like now sounds a lot like New Wave, so I think I can say with some confidence that I made the right call. From there I went on to Talking Heads, Devo, the English Beat, and all that other eighties stuff that wasn't hair metal, hip-hop, or punk. The song on the mix is "Black Coffee In Bed", which I used to always put on the jukebox at the diner, before they pulled that album.
   
9. Furr - Blitzen Trapper
   This one is a little bit contentious, because their earlier album Wild Mountain Nation probably deserves this spot. I think though, that if I hadn't gotten Furr, that I wouldn't have been pushed towards Americana and bluegrass music. Now, thanks to a friend's extended stint in the South, I have a healthy appreciation for country as well. This may be the first band that I started listening to because of the KEXP Song of the Day podcast, which will continue to be important for the next album on the list. The song on the mix is "Not Your Lover", which I believe is one of their more folk-y tunes (but honestly I forget the instrumentation a lot of the time and only remember the awesome).
   
10. Hold On Now, Youngster - Los Campesinos!
    This is the second album that I ever bought because of the KEXP podcast. Maybe, it may have been the other way around. The poster that came with the album is still on my wall, and its hit single still makes it into 4/5 mixes that I make. I really like their newer stuff, but haven't gotten around to buying it yet. I think that this album, along with Passion Pit, got me into electronica. LCD Soundsystem sealed the deal. Actually, it hasn't really gone beyond that, but I am open to the idea! This album is also partially responsible for my love of Wales and Welsh people and things, so that's something as well. The song on the mix is "My Year In Lists", which is really neat and kind of weird, just like all of their other songs.

A quick note...

Wondering why every single one of our reviews recommends that you get the song or album? Look at the name of the site! If we don't like it, we don't post about it.