Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos! are a seven-piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. Though the band formed in Wales, none of the members are Welsh. The band has gone through several lineup changes during their career, with their current lineup consisting of Gareth David (lead vocals, lyrics, glockenspiel), Neil Turner (guitar), Tom Bromley (guitar), Rob Taylor (guitar, other instruments), Kim David (keyboards, vocals), Matt Fidler (bass) and Jason Adelinia (drums); the members replace their surnames with "Campesinos!" as stage names. Influenced by the twee pop movement, the band released their debut studio album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., in February 2008, and followed up with We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, in October that year. Both receiving favourable reviews by critics, the former was described by Pitchfork as a "giddy, tuneful love note to individuality, pathos – and everything else indie pop built its name on". Their third album, Romance Is Boring, was released in 2010, saw the band receive praise for expanding their "already sizeable instrumental palette". Their fourth release, Hello Sadness, was released in 2011, followed by No Blues in 2013 and most recently, Sick Scenes in 2017. Among six studio albums, the band has also released a live album – Good Night for a Fistfight in 2013, and four EPs, most recently Whole Damn Body in 2021. In a 2021 feature, Pitchfork included Los Campesinos! among the 200 most important artists from the site's first 25 years, and described the group as "the 21st century's most endearing cult band.” The group was formed at Cardiff University in 2006, originally consisting of Neil Turner on guitar, Ellen Waddell on bass guitar, and Ollie Briggs on drums. In March 2006, Tom Bromley joined the band, assuming the role of lead guitarist, later followed by Gareth Paisey – who became the band's principal lyricist – on lead vocals and glockenspiel, Harriet Coleman on violin and keyboard, and Aleksandra Berditchevskaia on vocals, keyboards and melodica. The band's earliest compositions were influenced by post-rock, though no recordings from this era are known to circulate publicly. The word campesino in Spanish translates to "peasant" or "country person". All members of the band refer to their surnames as "Campesinos!" The band performed their first gig on 8 May 2006 at a student union club night; they went on to play a number of increasingly well-received gigs around Cardiff. An early demo was recorded featuring the songs "Death To Los Campesinos!", "It Started With A Mixx", "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks", and "You! Me! Dancing!". The songs were posted on the band's Myspace account which saw their reach and reputation grow, and in August 2006 landed them a slot supporting Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene. In November 2006, the band were signed by Wichita Recordings. The band's first single, a double A-side featuring songs "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" and "Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)", was released on 26 February 2007. In April, the band signed to Canadian label Arts & Crafts for North American releases. In June 2007, the band released "You! Me! Dancing!" on limited edition 7" coloured vinyl, which later went on to feature in an advertisement for Budweiser. This release was accompanied by a handful of live performances in Bath, Newport, Cardiff and London. Around this time they were seen playing with bands like Sky Larkin and Johnny Foreigner. Both singles, produced by Dave Newfeld, were released in North America on Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, a compilation album released in July 2007. The band embarked on their first full UK tour in October 2007, following the release of "The International Tweexcore Underground" on 15 October. Their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., was released in the UK on 25 February 2008 and in North America on 1 April 2008.They embarked on a European and North American tour in support of the album. Receiving generally positive reviews, publication NME specifically praised its musicality but criticised its cohesiveness. Other sources such as Pitchfork and Drowned in Sound, however, lauded the album.The band made their TV debut on Tubridy Tonight in February 2008, On 1 August 2008, the band announced that a record titled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed would be released before the end of the year, and the date later confirmed for this was 13 October, although that was later delayed to 27 October 2008. Paisey explained the album would not be a "post-album cash in", but "ten all-new tracks". No singles were released from the record, and its distribution was limited. In October 2008, the band performed around England, headlining the Shred Yr Face tour with support from No Age and Times New Viking. In April 2009, the band played in Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela, their first performances in South America.

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