Los Campesinos!

Sat., May 17, 9 p.m., $10, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

by M.J. Fine

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Published: May 13, 2008

rock/pop

Sarah Wilmer (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

If you're the kind of person who goes apoplectic at the sight of an exclamation point in the middle of the sentence, Welsh septet Los Campesinos! will still charm the skirt off you with their boisterous boy-girl vocals, manic glockenspiel jags and improbably muscular guitars. Aleksandra, Ellen, Gareth, Harriet, Neil, Ollie and Tom sing of drowning in Dewey decimal, outrage over improper adjectives and the hidden heartbreak of correctly used apostrophes, but their first full-length, Hold on Now, Youngster ... (Arts & Crafts) isn't just mood music for word nerds. "You! Me! Dancing!" nails the joy of flailing ineptly to Bis songs with that special someone, while "This Is How You Spell 'Ha Ha Ha, We've Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics'" is a gleefully bitter breakup letter. Los Campesinos!'s punk-ass punctuation may give you pause, but consider it a blessing. Their favored breakneck pace doesn't allow much time for catching your breath, so take it when you can.

Sat., May 17, 9 p.m., $10, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

 

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