Depending on who you ask, Los Campesinos! are either the last great hope of indie-pop or just profoundly irritating. I tend towards the first view, and so I keep finding myself making excuses for it – yes, they’re pretentious, but show me an indie-pop band that isn’t. Yes, all most of their songs read like LiveJournal manifestos, but that’s the point.
Romance is Boring, the Cardiff band’s third album, certainly lives up to that reputation. It’s an unabashedly melodramatic, cutting attack on preconceptions of romance and sex (naturally). It lives up to the wit and lyrical standards Los Campesinos! set for themselves with previous albums – I think we need more post-coital / and less post-rock – it’s (still) music for slightly over-dramatic adolescents with blogs. Small wonder I like it so much.
The album also sees Los Campesinos! take a more experimental direction with their sound – it’s become more refined, reining in the motormouth instincts that made listening to either of their previous albums feel like drowning under a tidal wave of half-shouted witticisms. Romance is Boring has a more nuanced quality, and it’s a better album for it. Equally impressive is that this hasn’t come at the cost of their ability to make loud, brilliantly catchy indie-pop songs – the best examples here being “There are Listed Buildings”, “Straight in at 101″, and title track “Romance is Boring”, which is frankly a work of genius. There are some songs that miss their target (most notably “Who Fell Asleep In”), but overall they don’t really detract from the experience enough to make the album suffer.
Romance is Boring, then, is an expertly-crafted series of indie-kid anthems, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s experimental without being unlistenable, intelligent without being insufferable, and unashamedly speaking to an indie sensibility all its own.
Our Arbitrary Numerical Verdict:
Los Campesinos! – ‘There Are Listed Buildings’
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Alex Kelly is a blogger and student living in London, UK. 
Saw them at Koko last week, my-oh-my were they good. Such energy and charisma! There is a sense of joy in the music which is totally at odds with the lyrics, the new album more than the others. Love it.