Los Campesinos!

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Los Campesinos!
(l-r) Ellen, Gareth, Neil and Tom performing.
Background information
Origin	Cardiff, Wales
Genre(s)	Twee pop Indie rock
Years active	2006–present
Label(s)	Wichita, Arts & Crafts
Website	http://www.loscampesinos.com
Members
Ellen Campesinos! Gareth Campesinos! Harriet Campesinos! Neil Campesinos! Ollie Campesinos! Tom Campesinos! Aleks Campesinos!

Los Campesinos! are a seven piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales that formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. They released their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., in February 2008 and released their second album, entitled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, later that same year on October 27, 2008.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Formation and signing to Wichita: 2006 1.2 Debut singles and Sticking Fingers Into Sockets: 2007 1.3 Hold on Now, Youngster... and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed: 2008 1.4 New Album 2009 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Records 2.3 EPs 2.4 Demos 2.5 Singles 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Formation and signing to Wichita: 2006

The group came together at Cardiff University in 2006, originally consisting of Neil on guitar, Ellen on bass guitar, and Ollie on drums. ^[1] In March 2006, Tom joined the band, assuming the role of lead guitarist and songwriter, later followed by Gareth on vocals and glockenspiel, Harriet on violin and keyboard, and finally Aleksandra on vocals, keyboards, and melody horn.^[2] According to Tom, he met Neil after overhearing him discussing Sufjan Stevens at a club. The band's earliest compositions were long pieces in the style of "post-rock," though no recordings from this era are known to circulate publicly. ^[1] The word campesino in Spanish translates to "peasant" or "country person."^[3]

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 live favourite "You! Me! Dancing!". The songs were posted on the Internet, bolstering the popularity established by their energetic live shows and earning them airplay on Beth & Huw's evening show on BBC Radio 1 Wales. The band's reputation continued to grow, and in August 2006 landed them a slot supporting Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene.

[edit] Debut singles and Sticking Fingers Into Sockets: 2007

In November 2006, the band were signed by Wichita Recordings, who put out their first single on 26 February 2007, a double A-side featuring new songs "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" and "Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)". In April the band signed to Canadian label Arts & Crafts for Canadian and North American releases. In June 2007 the band released "You! Me! Dancing!" on limited edition 7" coloured vinyl, accompanied by a handful of dates playing Bath, Newport, Cardiff and London. Both singles (produced by Broken Social Scene collaborator Dave Newfeld) were compiled for North American release as Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, which was released on 3 July on Arts & Crafts. The band embarked on their first full UK tour in October, preceded by the "The International Tweexcore Underground" single (released October 15, 2007).

[edit] Hold on Now, Youngster... and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed: 2008

Their debut album, titled Hold on Now, Youngster... was released in the UK on February 25, 2008 and in the US on April 1, 2008. ^[4] They also embarked on a European and North American tour in support of the album. The NME rated the album 6/10, praising its musicality but criticising its cohesiveness, but other sources, such as Pitchfork Media and Drowned in Sound, lauded it. They made their TV debut on Tubridy Tonight on February 9, 2008.

On August 1, 2008, the band announced that a record entitled We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed would be released before the end of the year, and the date later confirmed for this was October 13, although that was later pushed back to October 27, 2008. The band explained: "This is no post-album cash in. It's no B-Sides and rarities or 'songs that weren't good enough to be on the album cobbled together with some remixes and field recordings of Cardiff's indie scene'; it's ten all-new tracks that none of you have ever heard before." There are no singles to be released from the record, and its distribution is limited.^[5]

The band also announced tour dates of the UK for October 2008 with support from No Age and Times New Viking.

In April 2009, the band played in Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela, in their first South American gig.

[edit] New Album 2009

Los Campesinos! are currently in Stamford, Connecticut recording a new album with John Goodmanson. The album is expected to be completed in June 2009. They are recording it in multiple sessions, with the second half of their current North America tour inbetween^[6] In May 2009 it was announced on their blog that they had almost finished recording the album and that the album was to be mixed in Wales in June. Two song titles were announced "This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind" and "Straight in at 101"^[7] On the morning of June 2nd 2009 it was announced via their website that Aleks is to leave the band, and go back to her studies, after a US tour in August.^[8] On June 24, 2009, LC! announced on their blog that the album was complete. The album and its songs have titles (except for one) but the band will be unable to talk about at the moment saying, "I cannot wait until we can properly TALK ABOUT IT and stuff."^[9]A U.K. tour was announced on July 6, 2009. This will be their first tour without Aleks and with the new member of the band

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• February 2008: Hold on Now, Youngster... #72 UK, #45 US Billboard Top Heatseekers ^[10]

[edit] Records

• October 2008: We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed #43 US Billboard Top Heatseekers ^[11]

[edit] EPs

2007: Sticking Fingers into Sockets

[edit] Demos

2006: Hold on Now, Youngster

[edit] Singles

Year	Song	Record label	Album	Highest chart position
				UK Singles Chart
2007	"We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives"/"Don't Tell Me to Do the Math(s)"	Wichita	Sticking Fingers into Sockets	—
2007	"You! Me! Dancing!"	Wichita	Hold on Now, Youngster...	—
2007	"The International Tweexcore Underground"	Wichita	non-album release	126
2008	"Death to Los Campesinos!"	Wichita	Hold on Now, Youngster...	198
2008	"My Year in Lists"	Wichita	Hold on Now, Youngster...	—

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Los Campesinos!

• Official Website
• Los Campesinos! at MySpace
• Los Campesinos! at Last.fm
• Los Campesinos! on Wichita Recordings
• Los Campesinos! on Arts & Crafts
• 2009 Los Campesinos! Interview at Bandega.com
• Los Campesinos! interview with musicOMH.com
• Los Campesinos! entry at The Indie Music Database

v • d • e Los Campesinos! Aleksandra • Ellen • Gareth • Harriet • Neil • Ollie • Tom Studio albums Hold on Now, Youngster... • We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed EPs Hold on Now, Youngster • Sticking Fingers Into Sockets Singles "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives"/"Don't Tell Me to Do the Math(s)" • "You! Me! Dancing!" • "The International Tweexcore Underground" • "Death to Los Campesinos!" • "My Year in Lists" Related articles Arts & Crafts • Wichita

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