Toronto - People on the internet have really short attention span. You could be the greatest thing since sliced bread one day, then the next day, you don’t even exist. This applies to the whole internet music-blogging community as well. One day, you are the most hyped band on the web, everyone will proclaim you are the second coming of Joy Division - and then the next day, you are the Kaiser Chiefs. So I guess it comes to no surprise that Los Campesinos! is releasing their second album in a year, in their mind, they gotta get the money while they can. That cash be going to someone else soon enough. They say it’s not a cash grab, whatever, people gotta eat.

For those not in the know, Los Campesinos! is 7 Piece Welsh band on the Canadian label Arts & Crafts. Yup. Seven. They excel in making a lot of poppy noise, with gang lyrics and a cheery disposition. For more details on what their sound is, read Wade’s song-by-song analysis of their first album - Hold On Now, Youngster. Normally, I think Wade would probably write another song-by-song analysis of this second album, but by the time he finishes that, I think Los Campesinos would probably have released a third album, and that’s just not fair. So here is my uber short review on it.

So how is this second album? It’s pretty good. It doesn’t really stray much in sound from the first album (shocker) but I would dare say this album sounds a bit tighter and the songwriting has improved. It’s less raw, and the hooks are better constructed. I think the song “You’ll Need Those Fingers For Crossing” might be the best Los Campesinos song so far. It’s not as cheery as the other ones (say..you me, dancing), but it’s got a great hook in it.

So in conclusion, after three listens of the album, I can say - if you like the first album, you will definitely like this one. If you did not like the first album, you probably won’t like this one either. If you have never listened to the first album - then give it a shot if you like poppy music explosions that’ll put you in a decent mood.

 

 Los Campesinos! - You'll Need These Fingers For Crossing: Play Now