Tangled Up In Wires

Although its been bouncing around on YouTube and the blogosphere for weeks, today saw the official release of “There are Listed Buildings,” the first single from Los Campesinos!’ impending album Romance Is Boring. I am nothing if not a huge Los Campesinos! fan, and I’ve been following them since I heard Sticking Fingers Into Sockets – EP came out all the way back during the Bush Administration. If “There Are Listed Buildings” is any indication, the band hasn’t slowed down at all.

“There Are Listed Buildings” is pretty standard Los Campesinos! starting with a Built to Spill-esque guitar line before exploding with horns and “ba-ba” vocals. The song is accelerated by a thundering bassline and the typically energetic drums and it reaches a nice crecendo. Of the top of my head, I can’t think of any other LC! songs that use horns, but they add to the mayhem here. You may also notice the absence of Aleks Campesinos, the superego to Gareth Campesinos’ yelpy id.  She has moved onto greener pastures, but the band’s new singer, Kim, doesn’t miss a beat and if you aren’t listening close you probably won’t notice the difference. (Blogger’s Note: I’ve been informed by @loscampesinos that Aleks is still on the record, which explains why I couldn’t notice a difference. My bad, everyone.) Instead its Gareth’s vocals that sound a little different, his voice deeper, more matured and confident. Mike and I have a couple friends who hate Los Campesinos! because of the lead vocals who might not be as turned off by his voice on this song.

Lyrically, the band hasn’t missed a beat, with gems like “I remember being naked to my waist though not in which direction” and “we are two atheists in lust, we gotta make our own luck.” The song depicts a fleeting summer relationship but lines like “And oh, I am a glutton for love, can you give me some romance? I’m a glutton for sin” transcend the “Summer Nights” storyline.

“There Are Listed Buildings” is a solid first single that showcases the energy and with that Los Campesinos! have become known for. Taken with “The Sea Is A Good Place to Think About the Future” (a bit of a darker departure both sonically and lyrically), it promises another excellent record from one of my favorite bands.

P.S. According to Wikipeida, a listed building is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. So there you go.

Jonah’s Score: 89
Mike’s Score: 81

Tangled Up In Wires Grade: A