We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed 1

About a year i got the second Los Campesinos! album or their first "mini-album" in the mail. This past Sunday, I bought it on vinyl. Although I have not been listening to it all the times for a full year, once in a while its nice to listen to a couple tracks from the album. In short, the album is a masterpiece and definitely the better of the first 2 LC! records that came out in 2008. If I were to go back in time and re-do my best of list for 2008, "WAB, WAD" would be right up there with Death Cab's "Narrow Stairs." After another couple listens to the album on vinyl I feel no different than I previously had. To me, I think it's so interesting as to what they decided to do with the record. First of all, it's not an official album according to the band. It was advertised as a "mini-album," despite containing 10 tracks. They also invited some friends from other bands and some other artists to interpret their meaning of We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, including drawings, poems and stories. That's a pretty ambitious thing to do for a band that only 7 months before released their debut album. There were no singles released from the album.
Here are my 10 Highlights of the album:
-Ways To Make It Through The Wall is possibly the best track on the album, but don't hold me to that. It was my favorite for weeks when I first heard it. The line "A room full of vacuum and a room full of air look the same" made me think: "No there not!"
-Miserabilia is another fun track. My favorite part is at the beginning when Aleks says "No one matters" and Gareth echoes her saying the same thing in a muffled tone.
-The title track is just as good as it sounds like it would be. The keyboard melody played over and over again is so catchy and fun, it's hard not to like this one.
-The one weird song on the album is "Between An Erupting Earth And An Exploding Sky" Lasting just over a minute, its pleasant to hear something different than normal Campesinos! music and listen to and instrumental.
-You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing is the second longest LC! song ever and is certainly single worthy. It's a shame they didn't put it out on 7 inch.
SIDE 2
-It's Never That Easy Though, Is It? (For The Other Kurt) is the only LC! song I don't associate with a name. Walking into a room to see your ex making out with someone else with your favorite band's most popular song in the background would be awful.
-The End Of The Asterisk is a song I had trouble with when I first bought the album. It has now turned into one of my favorites. I think of it as the "My Year In Lists" of WAB, WAD, mostly because of how long it is.
-Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1 is my favorite one from the album. From the oo's and aah's to the super catchy guitar riff to almost a minute of feedback and randomness, it's just so perfect.
-Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time is one of the prettiest songs done by Team Campesinos! It's also one of the only acoustic songs done by them and it's the easiest song to understand in terms of lyrics.
-All Your Kayfabe Friends is another favorite of mine. The opening line is hilarious: " Word is you slept in a weird position and your back and your shoulders are aching/ I said my stomach's chewing it's way out from the inside 'cause I've gone 3 days now without eating." Great stuff.
This is one of my favorite albums of all time and buying it again re-assured that. Do yourself a favor and take a listen to a track or two that I've posted a link for. Who knows, maybe it'll change your life like it did mine. If you already own it take another listen or buy it on vinyl. If you don't buy it or I'll burn you a copy, just ask. This is the work of a masterpiece. Absolutely fantastic.

We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltUSKuBK-j0
Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tIkZ0jcBD4 (Sorry, not too exciting videos)

-Eliot Larson, 12/3/09