Los Campesinos!

History

The group was formed at Cardiff University in 2006, initially consisting of Neil Turner on guitar, Ellen Waddell on bass guitar, and Ollie Briggs on drums. Tom Bromley joined in March 2006 as lead guitarist, followed by Gareth Paisey on lead vocals and glockenspiel, Harriet Coleman on violin and keyboard, and Aleksandra Berditchevskaia on vocals, keyboards and melodica. The band's earliest compositions were influenced by post-rock, though no recordings from this era are known to circulate publicly.

The word campesino translates to "peasant" or "country person" in Spanish, and all members refer to their surnames as "Campesinos!". Their first gig took place on 8 May 2006 at a student union club night, after which they played several increasingly well-received shows around Cardiff. An early demo featuring songs such as "Death To Los Campesinos!" and "You! Me!

Dancing!" was posted on Myspace, leading to a slot supporting Broken Social Scene in August 2006. In November 2006, the band signed with Wichita Recordings. Their first single, a double A-side with "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" and "Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)", was released on 26 February 2007. In April 2007, they signed to Canadian label Arts & Crafts for North American releases.

The single "You! Me! Dancing!" was released on limited edition 7" coloured vinyl in June 2007 and later featured in a Budweiser advertisement. Both singles, produced by Dave Newfeld, appeared on the compilation Sticking Fingers Into Sockets in July 2007.

The band embarked on their first full UK tour in October 2007, following the release of "The International Tweexcore Underground" on 15 October.

Band sound and influences

Upon emerging on the indie pop scene, Los Campesinos! were pigeonholed with the twee pop movement due to their lively, joyous music. The band worked to shake this image after their 2008 debut, Hold On Now, Youngster. Their second recording, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, was generally applauded by critics for adopting a darker guise, a trend that continued through their following two albums while expanding their instrumental sounds. In a 2017 interview with Noisey, Gareth recalled that the band initially embraced the twee label because they were happy to have people sharing opinions on their music, stating, "We did invite the 'twee' label upon ourselves.

I'm not sure if it's ever really accurate but it was a useful pigeonhole for us and, well, fair enough. Reflecting their movement away from their early sound, Gareth said, "Some people would use it to reference our most recent records and for me, then, that's just inaccurate. You may as well be calling us trance. The band has claimed influences from numerous artists including Pavement, Modest Mouse, Guided By Voices, Blur, The Beautiful South, Xiu Xiu, Broken Social Scene, Built To Spill, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Pulp, Belle & Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields, Joy Division and The Smiths.

They also cite the literature of B. S. Johnson, obsessions with death, and football as non-musical influences. Gareth has cited Paul Heaton of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South as his biggest songwriting influence, telling Stereogum, "It's safe to say, if it were not for Paul Heaton, I would never have wanted to write lyrics. Gareth's lyrics frequently reference football; Jeff Rueter of The Athletic noted that incorporating football parlance has become an Easter egg hunt for fans.