Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos! are an indie pop and indie rock group from Cardiff, Wales, active since 2006. They are also associated with twee pop and are based around a changing but long-running lineup that includes Gareth David, Kim Paisey, Tom Bromley, Neil Turner, Rob Taylor, Matt Fidler, Jason Adelinia, Aleksandra Berditchevskaia, Ollie Briggs, Harriet Coleman and Ellen Waddell. The group release music on Heart Swells.

Formation and early development

The band plays alternative rock and forms in Cardiff in 2006. It first performs in May 2006 at a student union club night, then builds a local reputation through a series of well-received shows around the city. Early demo recordings include Death To Los Campesinos!, It Started With A Mixx, Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks and the live favourite You! Me! Dancing!, which circulate online and help increase the band’s profile. The group also receives airplay on Beth & Huw's evening show on BBC Radio 1 Wales and supports Broken Social Scene in August 2006.

Recordings and releases

Los Campesinos! sign to Wichita Recordings in November 2006, which issues the single We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives / Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s) in early 2007. The band also signs to Arts & Crafts for Canadian and North American releases. Its 2007 releases include You! Me! Dancing! on limited edition 7-inch coloured vinyl, the EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, produced by Dave Newfeld, and The International Tweexcore Underground. The first full UK tour follows later that year.

The group’s debut album, Hold On Now, Youngster..., appears in 2008, followed by We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed later the same year. Romance Is Boring is released in 2010, with the acoustic EP All's Well That Ends arriving the same year and featuring Rob and Kim for the first time while still including Ollie for the final time. Hello Sadness follows in 2011, then No Blues in 2013 and Sick Scenes in 2017. All Hell is released in 2024 as the band’s seventh album, and its first single, Feast of Tongues, is also its first new song in over seven years.

Line-up changes

The band originally uses “Campesinos!” surnames as stage names, but stops doing so in 2024. Aleksandra Berditchevskaia leaves in 2009 to focus on her studies, Ollie Briggs leaves in June 2010 and is replaced three weeks later by Jason Adelinia, Harriet Coleman leaves in September 2011 to return to school, and Ellen Waddell leaves in December 2012 to focus on other projects, including writing and comedy. Rob Taylor becomes a full member after first being a semi-official addition and is described within the group’s numbering as the eighth Campesinos!, or ninth after Aleksandra’s departure.

Chart performance

All Hell reaches number 14 on the UK Albums Chart, which is the band’s highest position on the chart and its first album to enter the Top 40.

Name

The name Los Campesinos! translates from Spanish as “The Peasants” or “The Farmers”.