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[#8-12 on this countdown are basically tied. I’ve put them in order of release date.]

When I saw Los Campesinos! in late 2009, I lamented to Gareth that they’d released both Hold On Now, Youngster and We are Beautiful, We are Doomed in 2008, and that their next one wasn’t scheduled until February 2010, leaving me unable to put any Los Camp! on my 2009 Best Of list. His response: “But see, the new one is all set to be your favorite of the 2010s, the whole decade.” Well, it won’t quite make that, but I pretty much love everything Los Campesinos! does, and Romance is Boring is no exception.

All of LC!’s albums are pretty much of a piece; you’ll find the same manic orchestration and vocals, the same clever, intellectual, self-pitying lyrics (with just enough irony and humor to keep them from being hopelessly annoying), and the same nearly cacophonous sound that somehow resolves into something awesome. But you’ll also find a growing maturity and experimentation with other sonic planes, on some songs more than others, but especially on “The Sea is a Good Place to Think About the Future,” which has absolutely heartrending lyrics and music to go with them.

I’ve moved this album up and down on the list a lot – I get tempted to move it down simply because other than a few glimpses of evolution in certain songs, it is so very similar to their other albums (I can almost literally put all three on random and not know which album any given song is from immediately), but then I listen to it again and realize I still love listening to it a lot, similar or no. It’s liable to move up and down in my estimation a lot more. But overall, I love LC! to pieces, and this album does nothing to change that.