Los Campesinos! - Sticking Fingers Into Sockets

Genre rock Publisher Arts & Crafts External Links Official Los Campesinos! Website

It was only a matter of time before some kids decided to rip off Broken Social Scene and the Arcade Fire, and right now it couldn't be more welcome. In a year that's been one of the weakest in recent memory for indie rock, especially that coming from the UK, Welsh popsters Los Campesinos! are the proverbial breath of fresh air in an increasingly stale genre. With their hodgepodge of band members (they're at eight at the moment) and tendency toward rambunctious orch pop, not to mention the involvement of producer Dave Newfeld, it's easy to draw comparisons to the aforementioned Canadian indie greats, but to their credit, this band shows plenty of signs of originality, not to mention wickedly catchy hooks.

One of the year's more auspicious debuts, Sticking Fingers Into Sockets doesn't waste any time, hammering out six songs in 16 minutes, but it's so ebullient and clever, it commands repeat listens. "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" has fun describing a rambunctious party scene ("There's red stains all over the place / They're not blood, they're cherryade") as co-vocalists Aleksandra and Gareth trade lines, Aleks in a winsome croon, Gareth in a faux-snarky tone similar to Art Brut's Eddie Argos. "It Started With a Mixx" hilariously lampoons the obsessive art of the mixtape, while the positively epic, live-fave-in-the-making "You! Me! Dancing!" explodes with an Arcade Fire-like flourish (complete with glockenspiel). Perhaps the best of the lot, though, is the unexpected cover of Pavement's great "Frontwards", in which Gareth and his mates take the song and make it their own, a slacker anthem updated a decade later. Los Campesinos! are on the verge of something big, and their forthcoming full-length debut is already one of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2008, but for the time being, we certainly won't mind playing this joyous disc over and over again for the rest of the year.