Los Campesinos!

Lo-fi got its annual anthem with the best new band out of Wales since the Super Furries back in the early ’90s. Buzzing along with their collections of the Kill Rock Stars and K Records catalogues overflowing their iPods, Los Campesinos! found a second home on Arts & Crafts for their Sticking Fingers Into Sockets EP, which possessed this victorious caper. A whopping six minutes in length, the septet pull out all of the bells, whistles and glockenspiels for this one, ramming it with enough jubilant adrenaline to kill a large pony. The clattering minute-plus intro is misleading and bewildering, allowing no hints as to what will follow… and then it explodes! In come the guitars, then the xylophone, drums and whatnot, the nod to Comet Gain’s underlying ramblings in the closing moments (nice touch), and of course, the cheerleading call to break social awkwardness and just get out there and dance. The message is that simple, and despite the grammatical turmoil, the exclamation points are certainly required to help communicate the staggering volume of youthful might that flows through this band’s veins. Anyone who doesn’t feel the urgent rush to break into a dancing fit, no matter how inappropriate the situation, must already be dead.