8/10

When we first heard about the new Los Campesinos! Christmas EP, we originally thought it would be filled with festive homages and sickly-sweet nostalgia of end of year cheer. But luckily for everyone, this new release plays down its seasonal theme and is, for the most part, just another selection of tracks from one of our favourite indie-pop lovely. 'A Los Campesinos! Christmas' is a brilliantly composed six-track EP that almost feels totally at home with the band's original sound.

What you first notice about this release is that Los Campesinos! haven't actually had to change their sound very much to give them that tradition festive feel. Just throw in the odd sleigh bell to their already glossy, hyperactive sound and you are most of the way there. And while the EP is a very high-spirited collection of tracks, the band hasn't opted for that over-romantic angle most Christmas records go for but keep their lyrically content very grounded and have actually delivered some of their very best material to date.

Even without the overbearing knowledge of its festive theme, this EP is still a great little release with all the hallmarks of a band that have found their sound and comfortably rearranged it in order to give it a new premise. A superb Christmas record that we can all get behind.