Ditching their 'twee' image, gained on the release of two albums in 2008, Los Campesinos! return with a much stronger, serious album. Both 'Hold On Now Youngster' and 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed' were great albums, agonisingly honest lyrics set to glorious indie pop, but LC! have stepped their game up with 'Romance Is Boring', released in February. It's a big step forward for the band, these 15 songs are better than anything recorded by the band before, and 'twee' is definitely not a word you would associate with this album.
'Romance...' may not be as catchy as earlier work, but this is work that benefits from every listen, there is alot more going on technically, from lo-fi arrangements, pop punk and electronic breakdowns. The title track is a great piece of indie pop with a punk edge, and 'The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future' (yes they still do reeeaaallly long song titles) is a spoken word delivery over violins and crashing choruses. This album really is alot more coherent and stands up well as a single listen.
However LC! change musically or in influence, they do heartbreak and dark matters of the heart so well. So if you're into that sort of thing, this is for you.
