Los Campesinos! W/Parenthetical Girls 2/17/12 REVIEW
Friday I saw Los Campesinos! and Parenthetical Girls at The Parish in Austin, Texas.
I went in not knowing Parenthetical Girls and went out knowing I probably would not listen to them again but would not mind seeing them live again. Let me explain. Their music was not my kind of thing; their sound is experimental pop but lacks quality, very bland, and some pretentious sounding lyrics (I mean look at the band’s name). But the constant theatrics and banter with the audience i.e. Comparing Austin to their current location Portland, Oregon “1. Laziness 2. Suspended Adolescence 3. Good looking people over 30” marching around The Parish, talking about semen smelling trees, and swinging from speakers made their 30+ minute set enjoyable.
I would not call myself a “hardcore fan” of Los Campesinos! I did not particularly care for their latest release Hello Sadness as a whole but have enjoyed the albums in-between their first release. My hope was that they would play enough stuff from their other albums to satisfy my urge, which they did. One of the main things I enjoy about their music is that it has dark undertones mixed with an upbeat sound, even added that one-step dance, hands in the air feel. But not Saturday and it wasn’t for a lack of trying, Los Campesinos! just seemed to lack steam and their sound quality at times seemed to be amiss. They just did not have consistent momentum in their first night of two night performances at The Parish. I did not stay for the encore and I must have looked at my phone a few times during their under 80 minute set. I’ll be honest; if it had not been raining I probably would have left early, which is disappointing because they ARE a good band….just maybe on CD only.
Check out their new video for “Songs About Your Girlfriend” off their new album, Hello Sadness. It reminded me why I went to the show in the first place.
