Review Summary: Short, but definitely not sweet
As the good old year of 2010 was coming into its final month, a picture appeared on the Los Campesinos! blog website. The picture was of clouds, with the outline of Missouri (The Show-Me state) in the middle with rays shining out of it like the sun. Underneath the outline were the words, 'Heat Rash, Coming soon'. Immediately, comments started flying onto the comments section. "WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!?" "WE GET IT SOMETHINGS COMING NOW TELLLLL USSSSS PWEASEEEE" "WHAT IS THIS!?"
I doubt for a start anyone expected Los Campesinos! to start a mystery campaign to promote whatever it was coming up. They were rising to popularity but still pretty unknown, and probably not likely to over promote themselves. I doubt even more anyone would have guessed what 'Heat Rash' actually was.
On the 9th of December, people's wonder of what 'Heat Rash' was going to be was removed, only to be replaced by wonder at how Los Campesinos! could out do themselves anymore.
For those who do not know, 'Heat Rash' is a quarterly fanzine, written by the members of Los Campesinos! with a different topic each season. People who subscribed would receive a booklet filled with articles written by each individual member on the topic the issue was based on, and a vinyl holding a couple of tracks that were exclusive to subscribers. The subscribers could also follow a link enclosed to receive mp3's of the tracks if they had the misfortune of not owning a vinyl player.
The two tracks featured in the first issue of Heat Rash were amongst the first to be made with the absence of Ollie and Aleks Campesinos! and featuring Kim and Jason Campesinos! taking their places.
Though the band had already matured from energetic shouty twee punk kids into noisy, angry, funny weirdos, the songs on this vinyl took that transformation even further.
In 'Light Leaves, Dark Sees' Gareth's vocals in the verses have become so low you wouldn't recognise him from the first album, the lyrics are noticeably darker and it didn't feel like Los Campesinos! if you had familiarised yourself with the bands first two albums. This song could be and probably was easily overlooked by Los Campesinos! Fans as boring, and lacking energy. However, after multiple listens of his song, you notice things in it you didn't before. The odd rhythm of the guitar, the keyboard in the verses and chorus, Gareth's shifting vocals in the post-chorus etc. "We need a dog on a lead as a place to start/I need a heart on a lease for you to rip apart" being the first two lines of this vinyl instantly shows that Los Campesinos! have changed, and if you don't like it there is nothing you can do to stop it. They do still cling (though feebly) onto their old bubbly roots. How many times can you repeat "They've got nothing on me, they've got nothing on you" in a song before it goes from being fun to annoying?
The second track is in every way darker and showing the changes Los Campesinos! have gone through. Four Seasons is slow. Four Seasons is depressing. Four Seasons has power. This track is what makes the Vinyl for me, and overall is probably the more memorable track. Once again, this track makes use of the little details. Throughout, Harriet's violin is present adding chilling lines to add to the atmosphere of the song, and the backing vocals around 30 seconds in along with the sounds of a guitar being played at odd intervals with no clear melody once noticed is enough to send chills down your spine. Then there is the distanced backing vocals sung in the pre-chorus which will send chills down your spine if the aforementioned didn't. You can hear at least 4 members of the band singing at different points on this song, which is nice as the majority of the band have better voices than Gareth (though this doesn't mean Gareth shouldn't lead). The little details aren't everything though. When the final chorus hits, it hits hard. The cacophony of distorted, off key guitar mixed with the powerhouse drums, Harriet's underrated violin talent and the misfit harmony of the band singing will stay with you (Refer back to the chills down your spine).
This release does have it's cons. The production isn't brilliant, Four Seasons feels very short for it's length (3:22) and Light Leaves, Dark Sees is easily forgotten if not deliberately remembered. But in the end, this is an unnecessary release by a band which have gone all out to please it's fans. It was never going to be perfect. This is their way of saying thank you for being loyal.
In the end, this release is about showing the progression of Los Campesinos!, and this can all be summed up by the final line of Four Seasons: "As you bathe the stains from my skin/only dirt is washed away, cos all the bad lays far more deep/please I don't want to talk about it"
