#wabwad

On the record, every song flows so seamlessly into one another that despite the fact I've listened to every song individually probably hundreds of times, I am always invested the full way through. There is no song that takes you out of the experience or makes you do a double take; it's a front to back vibe that sucks you in effortlessly. The blaring synths and distorted guitars all over the album give way to an angst that is so addicting you can't turn it off. This is the band's noisiest and arguably most raw endeavor, and they use that noise to deliver some of the most energetic tracks they have ever produced.

The album opens by hitting you with a brick of a song, "Ways To Make It Through The Wall." This song is a loud, self-loathing banger of a tone set, showing off just how different this album is from their debut. This is an intentional reference to their song "My Year In Lists" where Gareth says that "hope is tantamount to hopelessness," and works wonders to show you that this is something new. That hopeless feeling translates into a series of failed relationships throughout the album. Whether it's looking back into memories of failed romances in "Miserabilia" or realizing you've been forgotten about on "It's Never That Easy Though, Is It?," there's always an acute sense of nostalgia that permeates the project, no matter the subject.

Despite its often boisterous production, it doesn't go without it's moments of sincerity that can just be crushing when coming right after the rest of this record. Songs like "You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing" and "Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time" are brutal yearnings for past partners, even if neither person deserved the other. These songs act as payoffs to all the wit and angst, showing that no matter how cocky Gareth may come off, he's not the image he projects as; he's as vulnerable and regretful as anyone else. These songs are more subdued and by nature, they really show off Ellen's superb bass talents, Tom's killer riffs (especially on "You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing"), and of course Gareth's signature glockenspiel.

Overall, We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed is an excitingly loud entry into the LC! discography that delivers on everything it promises to, and then some. It features some of the band's tightest, most poetic writing, talking about futures as bright as halogens and writing letters to God as a means to win Pascal's wager. The entire album feels like a bittersweet, melancholic and romanticized trip down memory lane that ultimately acknowledges that while there was beauty in past flings, they were ultimately doomed.

Favorite song: We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

Least favourite: N/A