Los Campesinos! has made a career out of demolishing the hierarchy between fans and friends. All of their records are thematically (and musically) relatable to what the average indie kid can muster -- simultaneously garnering the adoration of the music critic elite and the bright-eyed unashamed music geek.

Their latest, Romance is Boring, is probably their most serious (and arguably best) album yet. Less glockenspiel more noise, less sing-along more rambling verses and less fleeting heartbreak, more permanent affliction. As usual, Gareth's lyrics are the main draw, conceiving parables such as confessional tryst "Who Fell Asleep In," prescription abuse "The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future," and desolation, "Heart Swells/100-1." They're an easy band to fall in love with, and Romance is Boring is a testament to their maturation and sonic growth. (The album also contains the couplet "more post-coitus/ less post-rock." Yes.)

Album title: Romance Is Boring (2010)
Artist: Los Campesinos!
Label: Wichita
Songs: (1) In Medias Res (2) There Are Listed Buildings (3) Romance Is Boring (4) We've Got Your Back (Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #2) (5) Plan A (6) 200-102 (7) Straight in at 101 (8) Who Fell Asleep In (9) I Warned You: Do Not Make an Enemy of Me (10) Heart Swells/100-1 (11) I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know (12) A Heat Rash in the Shape of the Show Me State; or, Letters from Me (to Charlotte (13) The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future (14) This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind (15) Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State