We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is the second album by British indie pop band Los Campesinos!. It was released in the UK on 27 October 2008 on Wichita Recordings.

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 band initially did not consider We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed to be their second album, instead considering it a mini-album or an "EEP" (Extended EP).[1] By 2017, the band's members had relented to calling it their second album.[2] Frontman Gareth Paisey explained to Noisey that "I myself get annoyed when long term fans say "Actually, it's an EP," because I want to be able to say that "my band has released six albums" not "my band has released five albums" because it makes us seem like we've been more important for longer."[2]

The album's release came only 33 weeks after debut album Hold on Now, Youngster... and contains ten new tracks, none of which were released as singles.[3][4] The album was recorded over an eleven-day recording session with John Goodmanson in his Seattle studio during June 2008.[5][6]

The song "Miserabilia" was named the 94th best song of 2008 by Rolling Stone.[7]

A remastered tenth anniversary edition was released 12 October 2018.

Packaging

The CD version was released with an accompanying DVD featuring a short documentary of the band during their 2008 tour. The CD release also contains 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.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
Christgau's Consumer GuideB+[9]
Drowned in Sound7/10[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA[11]
NME[12]
Pitchfork8.3/10[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Spin[15]

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.[16]

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 Keyfabe 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[17] 43

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

References
  1. Gareth Campesinos of Los Campesinos! | Music | Interview | The A.V. Club
  2. Garland, Emma. "Los Campesinos! Rank Their First Five—Yes, There Were Five—Records – Noisey". Noisey. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  3. FACT magazine: music and art
  4. Los Campesinos!
  5. "Los Campesinos! Announce We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed Album". Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  6. "Los Campesinos! Ready New Album". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  7. The 100 Best Singles of 2008
  8. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  9. Christgau, Robert. "Los Campesinos!". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  10. Weiler, Joseph. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. Greenwald, Andy. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  12. NME. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". NME. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  13. Hogan, Marc. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  14. Hoard, Christopher. "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  15. Thomas, Lindsey. "Los Campesinos!, 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed' (Arts&Crafts)". Spin. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  16. "Los Campesinos!:We are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (2008):Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  17. https://www.billboard.com/charts/2008-12-20/heatseekers-albums%5B%5D
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