I’m not quite sure what to say about Titus Andronicus’ latest album, ‘The Monitor’, but I do know it deserves a nod. I was introduced to Titus Andronicus by way of their album ‘The Airing of Grievances’ in 2008, and while I wasn’t crazy about it, I was intrigued enough to check them out live. Seeing them live significantly increased my appreciation for their music, but the urge to revisit ‘Grievances’ after the show just wasn’t there.

My first impression of ‘The Monitor’: this is much more palatable than its predecessor, my second thought: man, some of these tracks are freakin long. Without liner notes and the inability to make out 60% of the lyrics, I only recently found out ‘The Monitor’ was a Civil War concept album… perhaps the track “Four Score And Seven” should have tipped me off. While I don’t have the attention span to listen to the album from start to finish, I’ve been enjoying it in small bits and pieces.

‘The Monitor’ hits stores tomorrow (March 9th) via XL.

Titus Andronicus – Live review

Video: Titus Andronicus by the band named…Titus Andronicus

When I heard that Los Campesinos! was playing a show in Tampa, I was a tad surprised they were coming to this neck of the woods…but I was also pretty stoked to check them out live. So off I went to the Orpheum to check out some tunes from the seven-piece, indie pop band hailing from Cardiff.

The opening band was Titus Andronicus, a sorta indie/post punk group from New Jersey whom I had briefly listened to prior to the show. I was not overly excited by what I heard coming out of my headphones. However, when Titus Andronicus took the stage I was instantly impressed because they had a lot of spunk, and I also noticed that the lead sing was wearing a So So Glo’s t-shirt. Their sound is a bit gritty, so the music translated much better in a live setting, plus they were rather entertaining to watch. I for one very much enjoyed their cover of Weezer’s, Sweater Song. I give Titus Andronicus two thumbs up in a live environment.

I think am drawn to Los Campesinos’ music because it tends to make me feel silly and jovial, which is odd because I usually prefer my music a bit depressing and moody. I’m pretty sure that I was sporting a little grin with my bounce, especially during, You! Me! Dancing!. It’s that damn glockenspiel. Although one member of the Campesinos clan was missing for the evening, their music didn’t lose any potency. The crowd was very into the music…you could tell from the stage diving and crowd surfing. In fact, the lead singer from Titus Andronicus caught the Los Campesinos bug and did some crowd surfing of his own. Their music basically charmed the crowd. As for their set list, they played an assortment of tracks from, We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed and Hold on Now, Youngster…

Overall, it was a stellar show, both bands delivered great performances and the crowd at the Orpheum seemed more than pleased.

The opening band was Titus Andronicus, a sorta indie/post punk group from New Jersey whom I had briefly listened to prior to the show.  I was not overly excited by what I heard coming out of my headphones. However, when Titus Andronicus took the stage I was instantly impressed because they had a lot of spunk, and I also noticed that the lead sing was wearing a So So Glo’s t-shirt. Their sound is a bit gritty, so the music translated much better in a live setting, plus they were rather entertaining to watch.  I for one very much enjoyed their cover of Weezer’s, Sweater Song.  I give Titus Andronicus two thumbs up in a live environment.

I think am drawn to Los Campesinos’ music because it tends to make me feel silly and jovial, which is odd because I usually prefer my music a bit depressing and moody.  I’m pretty sure that I was sporting a little grin with my bounce, especially during, You! Me! Dancing!. It’s that damn glockenspiel. Although one member of the Campesinos clan was missing for the evening, their music didn’t lose any potency.  The crowd was very into the music…you could tell from the stage diving and crowd surfing.  In fact, the lead singer from Titus Andronicus caught the Los Campesinos bug and did some crowd surfing of his own.  Their music basically charmed the crowd.  As for their set list, they played an assortment of tracks from, We Are Beautiful We Are Doomed and Hold on Now, Youngster…

Overall, it was a stellar show, both bands delivered great performances and the crowd at the Orpheum seemed more than pleased.  There is some live footage from the show (its not a professional camera so please forgive the quality), of of Los Campesinos! playing, Death To Los Campesinos!…check it out the video on YouTube.

Los Campesinos! – MySpace

Titus Andronicus – MySpace