I was a few years into suburban married life, and I desperately missed going out regularly to see shows and hang out, in addition to dealing with as-yet-to-be-diagnosed mental illness. I'm sure it was a thrilling combination for my ex-wife. I had no interest in Napster or Limewire, mainly because I never gave a shit about Linkin Park and I owned all the Metallica I ever needed to own. While MRR and Punk Planet still existed, there weren't equivalents for what could still be called "indie rock". So thank the gods for music blogs, because I would have otherwise fallen off completely. Somewhere during that time, one of the indie writers I read on the regular posted an EP from this Welsh group that sounded like a K Records group all hopped up on Mountain Dew. What was not to like? Within a few months, I saw the "Death To Los Campesinos!" video, and it was a lock:
Cute British boys and girls making music? Is that singer wearing a Crass t-shirt (note: it was a Xiu Xiu tee)? Are they getting attacked by memes? I fucking love it! So I went to the website of this UK indie distributor, slapped down $12, and ordered "The International Tweexcore Underground".
So what you get here is a non-LP single in the form of the title track, a Heavenly cover, and a Black Flag cover, none of which I was aware of when I ordered the single. There are some sterling lines in "The International Tweexcore Underground": "Said, 'How're you gonna bring the state down /When you're propping it up?' / With daytime radio / And skimmed milk and soppy bows". Man, that's pretty goddamned subversive. They refer both Amelia Fletcher and Henry Rollins within the song, which lead into the two covers on the EP. This isn't LC!'s finest hour, but this EP stands as an entry point for me and a lot of the rest of the world. It's full of piss and vinegar and sentiment and if it were a Simpsons character, it'd end up on the cover of Non-Threatening Boys.
Within two years, I'd left my married home, and met a girl, who'd take me to see Los Campesinos! on our third date. We've been together since.
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