Romance Is Boring

Romance Is Boring is the third studio album by indie pop band Los Campesinos!. It was recorded in multiple locations in the United States and Wales and was produced by John Goodmanson.[1] It was released on 26 January 2010 in the United States and on 1 February in the United Kingdom.[2]

Romance Is Boring
Studio album by
Los Campesinos!
Released26 January 2010 (2010-01-26)
RecordedMarch–June 2009 at Carriage House Studios, Stamford, Connecticut; Two Sticks Audio, Seattle
GenreIndie pop, indie rock, noise pop
Length48:22
LabelWichita, Arts & Crafts
ProducerJohn Goodmanson
Los Campesinos! chronology
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
(2008)		 Romance Is Boring
(2010)		 All's Well That Ends
(2010)
Singles from Romance Is Boring
  1. "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future"
    Released: 2 September 2009
  2. "There Are Listed Buildings"
    Released: 2 November 2009
  3. "Romance Is Boring"
    Released: 15 February 2010

The album was described by frontman Gareth Paisey as being about "the death and decay of the human body, sex, lost love, mental breakdown, football and, ultimately, that there probably isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel".

It is the band's final release to feature vocalist and keyboardist Aleksandra Berditchevskaia (who amicably left the band in August 2009, after the album had been recorded), as well as drummer Ollie Briggs.

A remastered 10th anniversary edition was released on 14 February 2020.

Composition

The album generally stays true to the band's original indie pop genre. However, they were also applauded for greatly expanding their sound. When speaking of the album's influences, guitarist Tom Bromsley cited Pavement, Guided by Voices, Blur and Modest Mouse as major influences upon the album.[3] Frontman Gareth Paisey cites novelist B. S. Johnson as an influence and references some of his work in the lyrics on the album.

The album features guest appearances from Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls, and Jherek Bischoff of The Dead Science.[1]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Chart[6]
Clash8/10[7]
Consequence of Sound[8]
Drowned in Sound8/10[9]
NME8/10[10]
Pitchfork8.3/10[11]
PopMatters9/10[12]
Spin[13]
Under the Radar7/10[14]

Initial critical response was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 75, based on 24 reviews.[4] British music magazine NME gave the album a positive 8/10 review, naming it "a significant step forward", in comparison to previous material.[15]

Other reviews were less positive, like British music magazine Uncut writing that "the band have beefed up their sound, at the expense of their spindly charm."[4] Vulture described the album as the band's "most divisive."[16]

Track listing

All tracks written by Gareth Paisey, except tracks 4 and 11 co-written by Aleksandra Berditchevskaia.

Standard edition

  1. "In Medias Res" – 4:42
  2. "There Are Listed Buildings" – 2:54
  3. "Romance Is Boring" – 2:36
  4. "We've Got Your Back (Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #2)" – 4:29
  5. "(Plan A)" – 2:01
  6. "200-102" – 0:55
  7. "Straight In At 101" – 3:54
  8. "Who Fell Asleep In" – 4:10
  9. "I Warned You: Do Not Make An Enemy Of Me" – 2:47
  10. "Heart Swells/100-1" – 0:45
  11. "I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know" – 4:39
  12. "A Heat Rash In The Shape Of The Show Me State; or, Letters From Me To Charlotte" – 3:42
  13. "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future" – 4:26
  14. "This Is A Flag. There Is No Wind" – 3:29
  15. "Coda: A Burn Scar In The Shape Of The Sooner State" – 2:51

Remastered edition (2020)

  1. "Too Many Flesh Suppers" – 4:49

Personnel
  • Los Campesinos!
    • Aleksandra Berditchevskaia – lead vocals, keyboard
    • Ellen Waddell – bass guitar, backing vocals
    • Gareth Paisey – lead vocals, glockenspiel
    • Harriet Coleman – violin, keyboard
    • Neil Turner – guitar, backing vocals
    • Ollie Briggs – drums
    • Tom Bromley – lead guitar, backing vocals
    • Kim Paisey – shruti box, piccolo
  • Zac Pennington – backing vocals
  • Jamie Stewart – vocals
  • Eric Corson – vocals, engineering
  • Jherek Bischoff – vocals, trombone, double bass
  • Izaak Mills – saxophone, flute
  • Samantha Boshnack – trumpet, flugel horn
  • John Goodmanson – production, recording, mixing
  • Guy Davie – mastering

Charts
Charts (2010) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 92
US Top Heatseekers 3[17]
US Top Independent 28[17]

Release history
Date Country Label (Cat#)
26 January 2010 (2010-01-26) United States/Canada Arts & Crafts (A&C050)
1 February 2010 (2010-02-01) United Kingdom Wichita Recordings (WEBB239)
3 February 2010 (2010-02-03) Japan Hostess Entertainment

References
  1. "Los Campesinos! on Recording Romance Is Boring". EQ Magazine. 26 October 2009. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  2. "Los Campesinos! announce new LP". Pitchfork Media. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  3. "Los Campesinos! :: The 12 Records that Influenced Romance Is Boring".
  4. "Los Campesinos!:Romance Is Boring (2010):Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  5. Sendra, Tim. "Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  6. Bryson, Scott (28 January 2010). "Chart review". Chartattack.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  7. Hollowday, Anne (22 January 2010). "Clash review". Clashmusic.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  8. Cosores, Philip (1 February 2010). "Consequence of Sound review". Consequence.net. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  9. Jay, Simon (25 January 2010). "Drowned in Sound review". Drownedinsound.com. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  10. "NME review". Nme.com. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  11. "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork.com. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  12. Sargent, Jordan. "PopMatters review". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  13. Modell, Josh. "Spin review". Spin.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  14. Rytlewski, Evan. "Under the Radar review". Undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  15. "Album review: Los Campesinos! - 'Romance Is Boring". NME.
  16. Ian Cohen; David Anthony; Nina Corcoran; Emma Garland; Brad Nelson (13 February 2020). "The 100 Greatest Emo Songs of All Time". Vulture.com. Vox Media. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  17. https://www.billboard.com/artist/los-campesinos!/chart-history/
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