Romance is Boring is the title of the third album of Los Campesinos!, which will be released on February 1. A title that would normally appeal to any spinster like myself, however, in the case of this band, the romance is all around. They stole my heart back in 2006, when I received a couple of mp3's and gradually continued to impress me with their passion for making music (and playing it live in such a devoted manner) and their clever, witty lyrics.
I cannot emphasise enough that my body is a / Badly designed, poorly put together vessel / Harbouring these diminishing, so-called vital organs / I hope my heart goes first
(We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed)
Yesterday they played a sold out show in Rotown, Rotterdam. This also was the mainland-Europe introduction to Kim Campesinos, who replaced the former bandmember Aleks who left the band to return to her studies. She did quite well (although the sound was a bit off at times) and was received most enthousiastically by the men in the audience... Anyway. The crowd only went mental during the second song, which left me unprepared and caused me to spill my drink all over myself BUT, most importantly, Los Campesinos! played a great show, mixing older tunes like Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks and You! Me! Dancing! with songs off their second album and a couple of no-so-sneaky previews from Romance is Boring, according to the singing along (ty, internet leaks). One thing that I so love about this band, is how approachable they are. Singer Gareth and guitarist Neil entered the crowd several times, and despite selling out the venue, the band packed their gear by themselves and hung around long after most of the concert visitors left.
They'll be back around soon:
13 March: Gebäude 9, Cologne (D)
14 March: Melkweg, Amsterdam (NL)
18 March: Botanique, Brussels (BE)
They're also playing a free instore at Rough Trade East, Brick Lane, London on the 31st of January and doing a full UK tour in February. OR, for the quick Dutchies, they're playing in Groningen tonight at 21:50 at the Eurosonic Festival in Simplon.
