'cause heroes wear masks and lycra

As much as I adore Los Campesinos! right now and they are my favourite band of all time, I forget that there were loves beforehand. None as all-encompassing but still with that amazing feeling when you have a band and you love them and everything in the world seems alive and brilliant. Girls may come and go but there is always the music.

The first band I ever truly loved were The Maccabees. I remember the moment I first knew they existed, sitting on the sofa at Teri's house watching MTV2. The video of Latchmere came on. Great stop-motion video. The song is brilliant obviously but I wasn't overwhelmed at the time. I liked it a lot though and it stayed in my head. I bought the single and the b-side from iTunes and then I first saw them 4 years ago today, at the Junction supporting The Fratellis on the NME Rock and Roll Riot Tour. I've seen them 5 or 6 times since and every one brilliant, from the downstairs at Fopp to the John Peel stage at Glastonbury. Them and their music soundtracked my first flushes of young adulthood and it was the perfect sound for it. I'd like to see them again and I hope they play Mary. it always makes me cry.