The Art of Longevity
The Art of Longevity Episode 66: Los Campesinos!
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Episode notes
What happens when you are a cult band (indeed when Pitchfork refers to you as “the ultimate cult band”) and you make the most accessible, most ‘mainstream’ album of your career?
It’s a relevant question for many bands these days, because emerging from cult status to the mainstream (what’s left of it) is a very valid path to longevity and success. Look at Nick Cave for example. He’s done alright.
But I can’t think of a better example right now, than Los Campesinos!
With All Hell, they have made the kind of record that can win over new fans, which isn’t easy on your 7th album. If we whisper it quietly, they may have even made a classic album.
Only time will tell, but for now the band is enjoying basking in a little bit of well deserved success, including an 8.5 on Pitchfork, hitting number 14 on the UK album chart and sold out UK venues - bigger ones than they have played before. Not quite a jump from cult status to daytime radio playlists, but nonetheless, progress. Los Campesinos! have just found a route to a larger audience.
“We’ve always looked for validation elsewhere, but to achieve the best reviews of our career and chart position [for All Hell] is very flattering and something we appreciate more now than at any other point in our career.”
It remains to be seen if the glut of year end ‘best albums of’ lists remember to include All Hell, if indeed they considered the record a suitable candidate. Well, it’s on my list. What’s more, the vinyl package is lovely (apart from the 45 RPM but we’ll let that one go for now).
Nothing better though, than a band in the enlightenment phase:
“When we formed we were very much ‘indier than thou. Very pretentious. We were very prescriptive to what being in a band should be. Authenticity has always been very important to us but now, our approach to releasing music, playing live shows - we’ve become the band we always should have been. So now I can be smug!”
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