Los Campesinos!

Formed in 2006 in Cardiff around students from Cardiff University, Los Campesinos! first gained attention with fast, dense guitar-driven indie pop, anchored by Gareth Paisey’s vocals and, at times, several female counterpoints, together with keyboard, violin and percussion arrangements that give their sound an instantly recognisable colour. After an initial phase of online demos and shows across the UK, Los Campesinos! released Hold on Now, Youngster... in 2008 and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed later that same year, before broadening their palette with Romance Is Boring in 2010 and Hello Sadness in 2011, where the songwriting turned darker and the indie rock more weighty. The group underwent several lineup changes — Kim Paisey joined in 2009, followed by Rob Taylor and Jason Adelinia in 2010 — without breaking a continuity defined by the core of Gareth Paisey, Neil Turner and Tom Bromley. No Blues (2013), Sick Scenes (2017) and All Hell (2024) continue this trajectory between nervous pop, catchy melodies and carefully crafted lyrics, in a career tied both to the UK independent scenes and to touring across Europe and North America.