Los Campesinos! - 5/3/07 - London Spitz
4/5
By: Yousif Nur
What a difference six or so months make. Cardiff seven-piece (but none of them are Welsh) Los Campesinos! Have gone from unsigned obscurity in university digs and solely playing their hometown, to playing a bloody rammed East End venue. Their first London show was filled with A&R folks, of whom Wichita Recordings eventually won the team LC! Signatures.
So how have the part-time band, part-time students done since then? After all, the following night they'd had lectures in spite of being on tour. The answer is it was a triumphant, euphoric and frenetic set, with any doubts or questions over them not being ready or lacking in material put to rest. One senses a real urgency over the arrangement of the authenticity of the music; in one hand there's the post-rock element usually involved in the intro of each track with violin, on the other they burst into full-colour pop mode, all smiling faces and much dancing.
Crowd favourite and signature tune 'You! Me! Dancing!' is a prime example of all these elements aforementioned chucked in. It's six minutes of exemplary song-writing genius that's an almost certain hit in the conveyor belt of hits the band potentially have going. It begins with an atmospheric, bleak feel, before lashings of paint tins are thrown in the works and as if by magic, a pop masterpiece is conceived. There's also an addition of Technicolor balloons from up above raining down onto the Spitz faithful.
The only slight negative from the night was the lack of interaction from the crowd (besides the few enthused hardcore fans) as this had all the makings of being an evening of splendour. The next twelve months will be all important to Los Campesinos!, ones which will help them shape their live presence, sound and overall set-up. But with the way it's going already, one would think that shouldn't be too difficult.
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