Artist of the Day - Los Campesinos!

As a Michigan dweller, I suffer from a wicked case of cabin fever every year, so the first day of the year I can walk outside without a hoodie on is a glorious event for me. It's the time of year I can acknowledge school is almost over, watch baseball all day, and trust that I won't be suffering from frigid cold ears on my walk to my car not 90 feet from the front door. More importantly though, it's the time I can just be alone for a while, be it out for a jog or driving the 30 minutes necessary to get to my friend's house during rush hours. In my hypothetical CD carousel of warm weather jams, Los Campesinos! find themselves in constant rotation. The former octet (they're down to six now) of snotty Welsh twenty-somethings know a thing or two about writing a bold, feel-good jam. Their full-bodied sound of horns, guitar and call-and-response vocals is chaotic; not traditional, "blow out your speakers, turn it up to 11" stuff like Sleigh Bells, but the energy is certainly enough to make you grin and slap your steering wheel at least a couple times on your drive. Furthermore, the banter between endlessly charismatic vocalists Gareth and Aleksandra (who departed shortly after the release of 2010's Romance is Boring) is patent UK snark, dropping one-liners and playing off each other like a pair of lifelong companions. There's really no rhyme or reason as to why Los Campesinos! are able to pull of their style as well as they do, but, despite the lack of method behind the madness, the group's hi jinks are the perfect soundtrack for your trip to a sibling's soccer game or a far away restaurant; sure to brighten even the most dreary chore, especially with a shining sun in the background.

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