“We’re stupid, but we’re happy”
Famous for their upbeat deluge of vocal and instruments, Los Campesinos! (LC! for short) released their sixth studio album, Sick Scenes.
LC! is a band from Wales whose members met at Cardiff University and started making some catchy upbeat indie rock, quickly earning themselves a deal with Wichita Recordings.
The band truly hit their stride in 2008 with their debut album Hold on Now, Youngster…, which contained one of their danciest indie-rock tracks, “You! Me! Dancing!” This track is filled with explosive choruses backed by each member playing their instrument to the fullest extent, making this track pack quite a punch.
LC!’s debut album was somewhat of a pinnacle for the group, and although their discography has been incredibly consistent, they’ve never really made an album to top it (a curse that afflicts many bands). However, Sick Scenes is the album to finally break that curse.
Sick Scenes contains all the trademarks of an LC! record: poppy indie-rock with some awesome guitar and catchy lyrics. However, what makes Sick Scenes so outstanding in LC!’s discography is the more heartfelt nature of the songs.
LC! is aware that they’ve been around for nearly 10 years now, and so, appropriately, the album begins with the track “Renato Dall’Ara (2008),” a song that hearkens back to their breakout era in 2008. This song assesses that aging idealism that we’ve all held onto at some point or another, and the loss of it as we begin to get older.
The theme of growing up is a major centerpiece of the album. Instead of approaching this with melancholic bitterness, Sick Scenes explores these ideas through the trademark upbeat indie-rock for which LC! is known. “The Fall of Home,” the lead single for the album, is the best example of this. Opening with soft guitars and a sappy string section, the song addresses the hardships and pains of growing up, but explodes in typical LC! fashion, taking away all the sadness and accepting that life will go on as you grow and you must do all that you can to hold on to those memories.
Sick Scenes is one of the most upbeat indie-rock albums I’ve heard in a long time. It provides the perfect sound that works right alongside the sunny weather of the summer time. This album is a perfect fit to be blasted at high volumes on a long drive, as the soundtrack to an awesome backyard house party, and even works as something to simply relax and vibe out to.
Los Campesinos! have found themselves a sound that works and they use all aspects of that to craft dynamic songs, not compromising or settling to simply complete an album. Los Campesinos! has finally broken from that dreaded first album curse, and with an album like Sick Scenes, it might just be their time to break out into mainstream success.
Photo courtesy of Los Campesinos!