Los Campesinos!: Academy 2

“So then, apparently we have one person in here who mistakenly thought that we were Tinchy Stryder," proclaims Los Campesinos’ Gareth, as he and his six band-mates meander onstage. This comes much to the amusement of the rest of O2 Academy which is, by now, bursting at its seams.

The fans are out in force tonight - LC!’s third record, ‘Romance is Boring’, comprises some of the band's finest points; the heart-wrenching lyrics, the swooning melodies and punchy choruses, whilst still bringing a new, heavier and more raucous element to their sound.

Opener ‘I Just Sighed, I Just Sighed, Just So You Know’ ambled by, making way for fan favourite ‘Death to Los Campesinos’. The opening chords of the debut-album opener were enough to kick-start the crowd into a mass frenzy.

With the first drops of sweat now rolling down their faces, LC! work their way through a handful of tracks from the new album, which, although sounding great, lack the urgency that LC! manage to summon with their first two records.

‘Ways To Make It Through The Wall’ sounds as turbulent as ever, its jangly synth-pop refrain inducing a wave of bopping heads across the crowd. Current single ‘Romance is Boring’ also sounds brilliant; from its angular guitar intro to its stomping chorus.

The true excitement, however, is saved for the second half of the set; a succession of LC!’s most rapturous, heart-wrenching, yet unmistakably euphoric synth-pop gems whips up the crowd into a swirling mess; ‘You! Me! Dancing!” is a triumphant six minutes of bounding, emotion-fuelled fun. It’s slow-build start is a heaving mass of violin, xylophone and cymbals which sees drummer Ollie atop of his kit ready to smash out the stomping kick-drum beat that breaks through the cacophony.

Tonight, LC! are truly on form; their melodious tales of love, loss, heartbreak (and football?) strike a chord in the heart of every soul in the crowd. Penultimate track ‘The Sea Is a Good Place To Think Of The Future’ is a forlorn, achingly tragic epic; The goose-bump inducing lyrics clearly strike a chord in lead singer Gareth’s heart too, his anguish is evident and every word seems to be sung with fervent intensity.

Staying true to old, LC! close with the one song that could end the set on a high; Gareth proceeded to thank the fans for letting the band having the second best job in the world (quipping that none of them would have made footballers), before launching himself into the crowd and rattling into ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’.

In typical LC! fashion, the set came to an elated close with the entire crowd chanting the track's final reprise “One blink for yes, two blinks for no, sweet dreams sweet cheeks we leave alone”, which continued way past the point at which the band stopped playing their instruments.