Don't let the warm-blooded band name fool you. Los Campesinos! (with exclamation mark!) are not from South America and they don't play salsa or flamenco. Los Campesinos! ('the farmers') come from Wales and stand for boisterous British indie pop. With no fewer than seven band members on board, every song sounds like a busy party. The weird ideas tumble over each other and it is great that the songs
… do not get bogged down in chaos. The comparisons with Arcade Fire are not surprising in various reviews. Los Campesinos! shares the full sound with that group and Gareth Campesinos! has the same nervous vibration in his vocals as Arcade Fire's Win Butler. Big difference is that Los Campesinos! sounds much happier, sometimes to the point of manic. In addition, Gareth's glockenspiel (a kind of xylophone) can be heard in every song, not an instrument you would expect in a rock band. Hold On Now, Youngster… is a fresh debut album by a group that also likes to throw a fun party on stage. (PdK)more
