Los Campesinos! (a rough translation of ‘farmers’ or ‘peasants’ from Spanish) formed just eighteen months ago while they were students at Cardiff University, but it didn’t take long before their demo was causing a fuss and they became one of the hottest indie tickets around. They started as a 3 piece indie band but quickly swelled their ranks to their current number of seven.
This, their debut album will make the cold February nights seem like balmy summer ones! Skewed lyrics allied to bouncy, hook-laden tunes will put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. They’ve been compared to Arcade Fire but that, frankly, is bonkers. If you locked Arcade Fire in a room and made them chase balls of wool around while listening to The Beach Boys for 3 months they might have a chance at recording something this joyous. Lazy comparison based on the fact they have lots of members and bash a glockenspeil.
Opener ‘Death To Los Campesinos!’ is just a great pop single, to be fair, most songs on this album are. ‘You! Me! Dancing’ is the best track 9 on an album ever (hey, not many bands hide their best songs that far in!) and closer ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’ with have you accidentally singing the final refrain out loud on the bus and looking a bit stupid. This is, of course, exactly what you’re supposed to do.
There are certainly nods to Pavement and Broken Social Scene along the way but they are always more than a sum of their influences. Los Campesinos! are a fiercely indie band but have made a catchy, arty, hand clapping, sing-a-long album that deserves to storm the charts and have Jo Whiley saying ‘if you like Flaming Lips and Bis, you’ll love these’ before screaming ‘every single one of us is twisted by design’ at the top of her husky little voice.

Available from Diverse Music from Monday 25th February for £9.90