Twenty four months ago, Los Campesinos became indie rock deities on the strength of their full length debut, Hold on Now Youngster. A mere eleven months later, they cemented their place in the hearts of critics with their follow-up, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed. Beautiful was a much darker record than Youngster, but still had the effervescent energy of its predecessor. The effervescence is in short supply this time around. With Romance is Boring, Los Campesinos has officially entered the second phase of their career.
The biggest change is Gareth Campesinos’ voice. On the first two albums, he sounded like he would lose his voice at any moment, shouting out the lyrics with rapid-fire intensity. On Romance is Boring, his voice is much lower and the singing is more deliberate. The slower pacing puts the spotlight on the lyrics, which are disarmingly personal. The relationship problems go much deeper than the usual mixture of infidelity and boredom. The narrator’s lover has an eating disorder, and it is wreaking havoc on both lives. He pulls no punches, describing the “vomit in her gullet” from the bottle of vodka she drank. The direct tone of the lyrics may be too much for some listeners, but it’s much more effective than a bunch of flowery metaphors.
The other major change is the departure of Alecks Campesinos, who left the band to go back to school. Her sweet, girlish vocals provided the melodic counterpoint to Gareth’s harsh yelps. Alecks’ has been replaced by her sister Kim, who has dutifully taken the Campesinos surname. She sounds similar to her sister, but her voice is slightly lower. Instead of providing a counterpoint, her voice blends with Gareth’s lower tone.
The music has changed to reflect the new direction. On the first two albums, Harriet Campesinos’ viola provided a John Cale-like drone. On Romance is Boring, it carries the melody. The bleeping keyboards and chiming bell sets are used more sparingly. Tom Campesinos’ guitar playing is more traditional and less punky. The manic energy crops up on a few tracks (“Straight in at 101,” “I Sighed, I Sighed, I Sighed, Just So You Know”), but it’s more calculated. It’s as if the group burned off all their youthful energy early so they could explore these new ideas.
I’ve been racking my brain for the past few days trying to come up with a clever way to say that the band has matured, but there’s no other way to put it. Some fans will mourn the loss of the clanging bells, pounding beats and furious vocals, but they couldn’t do that forever. If Los Campesinos came out with a sequel to We Are Beautiful, they would have been savaged in the press. Romance is Boring does not have the instant gratification of the first two records, but it is anything but boring.