Concert Review: Los Campesinos and Titus Andronicus, Tuesday, February 3, at the Bottleneck

By GAVIN SNIDER

With a little persistence and a little luck, Los Campesinos! could do for Wales what Flight of the Conchords is doing for New Zealand. That is, they could remind Americans of their country’s existence, and maybe even make us aware of its general location on a map. This is what I knew about Wales before checking Wikipedia:

1. There is a city in Wales called Cardiff.

2. There is a band from Cardiff named Los Campesinos!

3. There is a general disdain for vowels in Wales. They are only used when absolutely necessary.

4. Wales is west of England (actually, I had to look at Wikipedia for that one).

In spite of my geographic ignorance, I went to the Los Campesinos! show at the Bottleneck on Tuesday night with high hopes. With two albums and an EP of loud, frenetic pop music, Los Campesinos! have made a name for themselves in the indie world as one of those unique bands that values energy over quality and actually gets away with it. Each of one their releases has featured a few standout songs with a perfect balance of catchiness and optimistic energy. Their music (and, for that matter, their live show) wouldn’t be nearly as exciting without its imperfections.