All's Well That Ends

Los Campesinos! say they're not breaking up, and that's good enough for me. There's no denying, however, that the innocently energetic indie kids who banded together four years ago at the University of Cardiff, in Wales, are no more. Oh, they're still hilarious, still capable of thrilling a packed room, but this year's glorious, enigmatic Romance Is Boring-- like don't-call-it-an-album We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed two years ago-- isn't so much twee as grotesque. The group members still perform under the Campesinos! surname, but in recent months two have left: singer/keyboardist Aleksandra, in a long-planned move, and drummer Ollie, under somewhat mysterious circumstances.