If today is May 6 and it’s still 2010, you’re in luck. Los Campesinos! and No Age are performing in Reid Ballroom this evening and it’s really in your best interest to see them. First up will be No Age. They consist of a drummer/singer, Dean Spunt, and a guitarist, Randy Randall. They’re from Los Angeles, and this will be one of a handful of shows they play before the release of their second album for Sub Pop later this year. Theirs is a particularly tuneful brand of noise pop, and they take a number of reference points: the Ramones, Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, Psychic TV, among others: and process them through a cavalcade of loops and effects, but the results are astoundingly tuneful. Yes, they’re loud, they’re fast, and there are only two of them, but for how dense and textured it is, their music is relentlessly melodic. Their most recent release, an EP called Losing Feeling, saw No Age stray further from lo-fi in favor of bigger production and more diverse song structures, yielding two of their strongest pop songs yet. It’s clear that their next album is going to be hugely exciting, and this preview of that material isn’t something you’re going to get again anytime soon.
Seek out:
“Losing Feeling” and “You’re a Target” from the Losing Feeling EP
“Teen Creeps” and “Eraser” from Nouns
“My Life’s Alright Without You” from Weirdo Rippers
Los Campesinos! consists of eight people, all with last names Campesinos!: Gareth, Kim, Ellen, Harriet, Tom, Neil, Ollie, Rob “Sparky Deathcap.” They formed in Cardiff, Wales, in 2006, were opening for Broken Social Scene and playing Lollapalooza within a year, and by early 2008 had released their debut, Hold On Now, Youngster…, which they followed up within 10 months with the album-length EP We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed. Their early material took on a number of reference points, like Pavement, most of the K Records roster and Sufjan Stevens, but they’ve since gone on to develop something wholly their own and far more compelling in a shockingly short period of time.
They’re currently touring behind Romance is Boring, their most ambitious statement yet. Their songs sport huge arrangements; you’ll see guitars, drums, bass, glockenspiel, synthesizer, violin, often all moving simultaneously to drive Gareth’s narratives, as devastating as they are hilarious, referential and joyous. In the live setting, they’re unbelievably high-energy, and the new material is an onslaught of choruses that works far better than it has any right to.
Seek out:
“You! Me! Dancing!” from Hold On Now, Youngster…
“Miserabilia” and “It’s Never That Easy, Is It? (Song for the Other Kurt)” from We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
“Romance is Boring,” “The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future” from Romance is Boring
And be excited. This is going to be the best show we’ve had in some time. There’ll be more coverage, like interviews with both bands, some photos and a write-up in the grad issue, but it’s really in your best interest to see them.
