Knee Deep at ATP

Being seventeen is a great, underrated feeling. It's an in between... sixteen to seventeen wasn't this instant growth. I wasn't eligible for anything new on April 16 of last year, there were no obligations to buy cigarettes for my friends or get a driver's permit. So most look at this as pointless, but I saw it as perfect timing. I could grow. And I made mistakes, a really really large one that starts with T. But I've learned so much and I've got more to do. Before this sounds more like Perks, think of what the sound of seventeen is.

I know what Gareth and Aleks Campesinos of Los Campesinos! think like because they just released a record called Hold On Now, Youngster... that is the sound of growth between the ages of sixteen and seventeen. They took some of that shit I was talking about in the preceding paragraph, some other distinctly British shit and made a record about it and it sounds fucking good.

First, think sincerely: is there anything more exciting right now than being a teenager? The entire world is ours. A young black man has a shot at winning the presidency and changing things for us. There are so many things to be angry at (a war, global warming, gas prices, shitty music) on top of the usual garbage (girls/guys, fake human beings, jobs). There are tough decisions like college. We don't have many obligations, true obligations like wives and children and bills. We are on the brink of something huge! This is life, this is existence. This is fast paced, messy and slightly off-key. This is also true about Hold On Now.

If you and your friends (given that you are very vivacious) got together and started playing music, like eight of you, it would sound something like this and that's wonderful to me because that's the kind of thing I like to listen to. But what makes this less party in my basement and more crying in my bedroom are Gareth's lyrics.

"And I must confess that at times like these hopefulness is tantamount to hopelessness"
-"My Year In Lists"

"And I spent the last seven years perched on the edge of my bed/Scratching 'I am incredibly sincere' into my forearm"
-"...And We Exhale and Roll Our Eyes in Unison"

And so on. They're obviously very sincere and very where I'm at this point in my life. Their influences (this shouldn't be news to anyone familiar with LC! already) lie in Pavement, Broken Social Scene, Sonic Youth, (to a lesser extent) Belle and Sebastian... all low-key bands that make a big noise.

I'm no longer sure where this is going (much like my life), but I'll summarize. Listen to this record, it'll make you feel something, whether it's "no longer alone," more alive, happy, slightly-annoyed... but like being a teenager it's just good to feel. Savor it while you can, while it's still applicable!

A+, 9/10, *****, 98%, 98/100 etc...

Death to Los Campesinos!


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