Lost Valentinos

The Bismarck Thief Alternative content Midnights

Surging forth from the urban sprawl of Sydney, Australia, comes Lost Valentinos, a collective of five young men armed with indie-rock dreams and an album’s worth of what they’ve termed “conquistadisco”. While it sounds obscure, Lost Valentinos’ signature style is something they’ve been working on and refining since their debut in 2005.

Over time, countless others have succumbed to the appeal of this ambitious sound. 2007 saw Lost Valentinos impress tastemaker and super producer Ewan Pearson (the string-puller behind recent albums from The Rapture, M83, Junior Boys and Delphic) who was so compelled by the band’s zeal that he climbed aboard to produce their debut record, Cities Of Gold.

Pearson’s faith in the band was soon echoed by other influential figures. Leo Silverman, the man responsible for the UK success of  The White Stripes, The Vines and The Avalanches, chose Midnights as the second single to be released from his new label, Dummy Records. Fan Death and Emperor Machine were enlisted for remix duties, adding to a list that includes the likes of Shinichi Osawa, Bumblebeez and DFA up-and-comer Jacques Renault. UK tour dates and a 2009 Splendour in the Grass announcement soon followed.

But this level of expectation is not something new, considering that Lost Valentinos’ unrestrained ambition had previously impressed superstar Australian producers Kim Moyes (one half of The Presets), Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes (of PNAU and Empire Of The Sun) enough to record the band’s first EPs (The Valentinos and Damn And Damn Again respectively), whilst boutique tastemaker labels like Kitsuné, Japan’s Raylee/Klee, and Bang Gang 12 Inches lined up to release their records before home-grown talent stable etcetc were won over, too.

And whilst Cities Of Gold charts the ongoing search for undiscovered riches, it is also the realisation of Lost Valentinos’ true sound, one that this early material only scratched the surface of. Epic walls of relentless percussion fused with cosmic production touches and fractured guitar soundscapes. It’s conquistadisco, naturally. But this seamless union of styles wasn’t achieved easily by the band, who along with Pearson, poured their guts into the recording process. Cities Of Gold saw the band take an almost year-long break from regular performances to twist knobs and tweak arrangements, ensuring that the final incarnation of the album met with their perfectionist standards. It would seem as though that day has come, and Lost Valentinos have left the studio, focussing now on showcasing the limitless passion that went into Cities Of Gold, and the treasures it holds.

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