Photo: Diana Sabreen
The Kids of Los Campesinos! Throw Charming Tantrum
A few songs into the Los Campesinos! show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last night, lead vocalist (and principal glockenspiel player) Gareth apologized for being jet-lagged from the band’s cross-Atlantic trip. Lord knows how the 13-year-old performs with enough sleep, because he was every bit the hyperactive (but polite) teenager, pantomiming song lyrics, contorting to the beat, and bouncing from glockenspiel to keyboards, drums (where he crashed cymbals) to guitar (the neck of which he practically strangled). And Gareth was but one young dude among the band’s seven members, who come from Cardiff, Wales, and bash out tunes like they’re at a political rally–cum–dance party. It was one of the collective’s first shows in America, and the blog-buzzed audience already knew tunes off their debut Hold on Now, Youngster…, out here for just a month, by heart. Which speaks to how irresistible the little guys are. Watching them was a little like watching a kitten fight: lots of fluff, but claws enough to draw blood. By the time of their Bowery show next week, we’re guessing they won’t yet be well rested — and we’re pretty sure it won’t matter. —Ehren Gresehover The Kids of Los Campesinos! Throw Charming Tantrum
