We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is the second studio album[upper-alpha 1] by Welsh indie pop band Los Campesinos!. It was released on 27 October 2008 via Wichita. Recorded over 11 days in June 2008 with John Goodmanson in Seattle, the record was released with no singles, just 33 weeks after their debut album, Hold on Now, Youngster... (from February 2008).[3][4]

We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Studio album by
Los Campesinos!
Released27 October 2008
Recorded12–23 June 2008
StudioAvast Recording Co., Seattle
Electrokitty, Seattle
Stars and Sons, Toronto
GenreIndie rock, indie pop, noise pop
Length32:10
LabelWichita, Arts & Crafts
ProducerJohn Goodmanson
Los Campesinos! chronology
Hold on Now, Youngster...
(2008)		 We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
(2008)		 Romance Is Boring
(2010)

The album was met with universal acclaim due to its musical cohesiveness and exploration into noise pop. Its song "Miserabilia" was named the 94th best song of 2008 by Rolling Stone.[5]

Release

In February 2008, Los Campesinos! released their debut studio album, Hold on Now, Youngster..., which debuted at number 72 on the UK Albums Chart.[6] In August 2008, they announced the release of their second album and its track listing.[7] Frontman Gareth Paisey reassured listeners of the record's quality despite its unusually quick turnaround, posting to the band's blog: "This is no post-album cash-in...it’s ten all-new tracks that none of you have ever heard before".[8]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Christgau's Consumer GuideB+[10]
Drowned in Sound7/10[11]
Entertainment WeeklyA[12]
NME[13]
Pitchfork8.3/10[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Spin[16]

Initial critical response was very positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album was met with universal acclaim, receiving an average score of 82, based on 22 reviews.[17]

Almost all critics agreed the album was superior to their debut from early 2008, Hold on Now, Youngster.... Writing for NME, Louis Pattison concluded: "Cooked up in a session originally meant to spawn a batch of B-sides, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed instead debuts 10 songs that outstrip LC!’s debut album at every turn".[13] For AllMusic, Tim Sendra claimed the record "has more depth and feeling". He said that earlier fans "may be initially put off by the emotion and desperation on display [but] they need to give the record a chance to take hold ... it grabs you by the throat and the heart, and doesn't let go".[9]

Track listing

All tracks written by Gareth Paisey and Tom Bromley, except "Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time" co-written by Neil Turner and Zac Pennington.

  1. "Ways to Make It Through the Wall" – 4:12
  2. "Miserabilia" – 3:15
  3. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" – 3:54
  4. "Between an Erupting Earth and an Exploding Sky" – 1:16
  5. "You'll Need Those Fingers for Crossing" – 5:09
  6. "It's Never That Easy Though, Is It? (Song for the Other Kurt)" – 2:21
  7. "The End of the Asterisk" – 1:52
  8. "Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1" – 4:27
  9. "Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time" – 2:37
  10. "All Your Kayfabe Friends" – 3:15

Personnel
  • Aleksandra Berditchevskaia – vocals, keyboard
  • Ellen Waddell – bass guitar
  • Gareth Paisey – vocals, glockenspiel
  • Harriet Coleman – violin, keyboard
  • Neil Turner – guitar
  • Ollie Briggs – drums
  • Tom Bromley – lead guitar
  • John Goodmanson – production, recording, mixing
  • Jim Anderson – engineering

Charts
Chart (2008) Peak
position
US Top Heatseekers[18] 43

Release history

The CD version was released with an accompanying DVD featuring a short documentary of the band during their 2008 tour, as well as a 32-page booklet which, in addition to liner notes and lyrics, also includes drawings and poems from Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls, Brent Knopf of Menomena and Ramona Falls, and Paul Heaton of The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, among others.

Date Country Label (Cat#)
27 October 2008 United Kingdom Wichita Recordings (WEBB187)
25 November 2008 United States/Canada Arts & Crafts (A&C037)

References

Notes
  1. Due to contractual reasons, the band originally refused to call We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed their second album, rather a mini-album or an EP.[1] However, by 2017, frontman Gareth Paisey relented, calling it their second album because: "I want to be able to say that 'my band has released six albums' ... because it makes us seem like we've been more important for longer".[2]

Citations
  1. "Gareth Campesinos of Los Campesinos!". The A.V. Club. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  2. Garland, Emma (9 March 2017). "Los Campesinos! Rank Their First Five—Yes, There Were Five—Records – Noisey". Noisey. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  3. "Los Campesinos! Announce We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed Album". Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  4. "Los Campesinos! Ready New Album". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  5. "Singles of the Year : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 13 December 2008. Archived from the original on 13 December 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  6. "Los Campesinos". Official Charts Company. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  7. Michaels, Sean (7 August 2008). "Los Campesinos! to release second album - already!". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  8. Ozga, Matthew (12 December 2008). "Punk, with Occasional Glockenspiel". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  9. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  10. Christgau, Robert. "Los Campesinos!". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. Weiler, Joseph. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  12. Greenwald, Andy. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  13. NME (10 October 2008). "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". NME. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  14. Hogan, Marc. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  15. Hoard, Christopher. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  16. Thomas, Lindsey. "Los Campesinos!, 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed' (Arts&Crafts)". Spin. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  17. "Los Campesinos!:We are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (2008):Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  18. https://www.billboard.com/charts/2008-12-20/heatseekers-albums%5B%5D
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