Los Campesinos!

Making smart, bookish, indie-pop, Los Campesinos! crafted bouncy, heart-on-sleeve odes to teenage boredom inspired by the likes of the Cure and Belle and Sebastian. Formed at Cardiff University in 2006, the seven-piece took their name from the Spanish for "the peasants" and started out playing at local student club nights. They received support from Huw Stevens on BBC Radio Cymru and were soon signed to Wichita Records for their debut album Sticking Fingers Into Sockets (2007). Led by the vibrant energy of frontman Gareth David, the band were described as "twee" by critics of their whimsical lyrics and jangly guitars but steadily built a cult following with the albums We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (2008) and Romance Is Boring (2010). The band took a darker turn on Hello Sadness (2011) with songs focusing on Gareth David's break-up with his girlfriend, but remained loyal to a sound built around bittersweet indie-pop. They put out another two albums, No Blues (2013)—which went to number 14 on the UK indie chart—and Sick Scenes before going relatively quiet for the next seven years. In 2024, they returned with another blast of energetic alt-rock, seventh studio album All Hell, which landed at number three on the UK indie chart.

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