Los Campesinos!
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts)
Reviewed by Darcie Stevens, Fri., Jan. 9, 2009
Los Campesinos!
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts)The history of UK pop is built on melancholy and loneliness. Even New Order put a pretty face on Manchester gloom. Those days of darkness are officially over if Welsh sevenpiece Los Campesinos! has anything to do with it. Second LP We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed continues on the path blazed by their 2008 debut, all urgent joy, jubilation, and communion. Opener "Ways to Make It Through the Wall" is merely a mood setter, Gareth's oh-so-British vocals a strong counterpart to Aleksandra's unaffected clarity. Throughout the album, fear of what the future holds melts into a celebration of pop culture and youthfulness ("Miserabilia"). It's all good fun, if you're into that sort of thing, and seeing as the entire release, which includes a 30-minute DVD diary, is limited – once they're gone, they're gone – it's now or never. As they say, there is no fucking future. (Los Campesinos! play the Parish Friday, Jan 30.)
