Halt! Los Campesinos!

If 2007 taught us anything, it's that indie rock is the new pop. Whereas once it was a treasure to browse through a music rag and squint to find a 100 word blurb on some obscure snotty-nosed lot who'd just released their first 7", it's now common place to find a clutch of cherubically-cheeked, flavour-of-the-week trendsetters peering out at you from the cover of a glossy streetwise advertorial.

And here, just a month in to 2008, this insidious co-option appears to be complete. But is it really so bad? For every splurge of Jam-aping filth like the Enemy, there's a Foals or Tokyo Police Club lurking in the shadows, ready to redress the balance.

One band that firmly subscribes to the latter form of idiosyncratic songsmithery is Los Campesinos! Last year the Cardiff-based septet had the blogosphere whooping along to with their contagious harmonies.

With three singles, two EPs and a mountain of hyperbole under their belt, you'd expect the band to be feeling the sheer weight of expectations over their first LP. However, upon sitting down with group founders Neil and Tom (rather conveniently each member goes under the surname 'Campesinos!') backstage before a gig at Cabaret Voltaire, it seems clear that this young ensemble of sprightly scallywags are taking the glowing plaudits in their buoyant, glockenspiel-skipping stride.

"We try not to worry about what people write about us too much – we're just trying not to be too self conscious and get on with playing our music," says guitarist Tom. "It's inevitable [the press] will turn on us one day - considering how fickle the music industry is at the moment – and if that's going to happen then we don't really want to think about it at all right now; we just want to get out there and enjoy doing what we're doing."

Initially starting out in 2006 as a jam band quartet, the antithesis to what Tom describes as Cardiff's "crap" music scene, Los Campesinos! quickly expanded its membership to capture the triumphant, jingle-symphonic majesty that exudes from debut single We Throw Parties! You Throw Knives! Yet for a band with its roots firmly entrenched in the quaint valleys of Wales, it's surprising to find their obtuse moniker is an ode to Spanish peasantries:

"I'm a big fan of Spain and I used to speak lots of Spanish, so it's just a word I knew from that," says guitarist/vocalist Neil. "It's a phrase that has lots of political connotations but that's not really a part of our sound – we're not a politically motivated band, far from it."

"We were throwing around names and it appealed to us both in originality and the way it sounded," continues Tom. "The exclamation mark at the end seemed to suit the energy of the band and the music we make. When people say Los Campesinos! we want them to shout it with enthusiasm."

With a trilogy of infectious singles under their arm, there was certainly no shortage of enthusiasm for the band's signature amidst UK record labels – with the home of Bloc Party, Wichita, winning the race to release the group's forthcoming debut LP – but was there ever any temptation to 'pull a Radiohead' and avoid the trappings of a long-term deal in favour of the internet's free marketeering?

"Nah, I think we are forever destined to be puppets of the music industry," explains Tom. "With the internet it's much easier to build an audience without a record label but for a young band like us there are still so many advantages in having label support, such as financial backing for touring, contacts and setting you up with a support band. It depends on what you want to achieve, I guess."

And what would Los Campesinos! like to achieve this year?

"We just want to release the album and carry on touring. I think we're going to have to push quite a bit to pull it off live," says Tom before Neil looks up from his lap-top and quips: "To be honest, right now we don't have any real goals – well, apart from getting to level four on this website."