Review Summary: If you were given the option of hearing stripped-down songs from 4 old tracks, after a full-length earlier this year, and with the expansive versions at your side... is this something that would interest you?
One of the most dazzling things about this year's
Romance Is Boring was the way it was so expansive and symphonic that it made you wonder how the songs themselves were even written. Of the overlaying glockenspiels and guitars and violins, which was the staple? It was nearly impossible to tell, and it gave me a headache from time to time trying to draw a straight line through the album when it was all so
messy. Wouldn't it be nice to know how Los Campesinos! imagined these bombastic numbers would sound if they weren't using everything including the kitchen sink to grow those ideas? Oh, hey, look!
All's Well That Ends!
Pretty much acoustic and much more relaxed than its full-length counterpart,
All's Well That Ends is a re-imagining of four of the most accessible songs released in January, but a re-imagining it certainly seems to be; let's face it, Gareth sounds better when he's shouting than when he's whispering sweet nothings, and the band sound better when they're rocking out or having musical seizures than when they're pretending they've got a chilled-out side. Even their instrumentals have always been slightly schizophrenic and fidgety, so it comes as no surprise that stripped-down versions of their own songs sound slightly forced and uncomfortable, and not in the
Romance Is Boring spirit.
Let's not lie: the piano line halfway through 'All's Well That Ends (In Medias Res)' is gorgeous, and there are a couple of worthwile moments on this EP, but it's far more
interesting than it is
engaging hearing these songs in a different context; you could even with good reason call 'Romance Is Boring (Princess Version)' and 'Letters From Me To Charlotte (RSVP)' tedious without the pace or energy of the original recordings. It's not that Los Campesinos! are bad songwriters and need all those quirks and all that bullsh
it to hide it, it's just that these cuts were invented with the grandiose nature of the material in mind, and so when they're slowed down to a crawl, they're bound to be simple and uninspiring. There's far more than an acoustic guitar to these tracks too, but they don't create anything resembling an atmosphere; instead it just feels like Los Campesinos! didn't
want to totally undress
Romance Is Boring, so they kept some of their layers as a token gesture.
If you're a huge fan of the full-length record and the band,
All's Well That Ends could even come recommended; it's cute, short, and provides an insight to another, gentler side of a very raucous band. But aside from that, it seems like a disappointing release when its premise could have been so much more. I guess we'll just have to be thankful they know how to write such damn good pop songs when they're in full force.
