Year #1, Album #2(2!). 'We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed' sees the Campesino camp mature a little bit through acting just a bit more immature. As opposed to 'Hold On Now, Youngster...' their auspicious debut, where they seemed to be going over every line with red pen, 'We Are Beautiful,' is more haphazard. 'Youngster' saw all its lines end with just the perfect punch, just clever enough, and just enough emotion. Essentially showing they aren't involved as much as observing from the outside, basically they were too good for themselves; this time around they seem to feel right in their own skin. Gareth takes over the vocals predominantly, and he's basically crying about his ex, but he does it in such a way (You said he's got his teeth fixed/ I'm gonna break them!), that exemplifies a sense of here and now (Oh we kid ourselves there's future in the fucking!/but there is no fucking future!) that most other frontpeople can't attest to(My life was saved by a packet of 19 cigarettes/Held in my left breast pocket/for a closest friend). To say they have spirit is a bit cheap, they bombast through 10 tracks of glockenspiel infused, violin savvy indie rock. They keep the tensions high, the boy-girl interchanges sweet or biting and when they decide to slow it down on 'Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time' it pays off. It's one of their most touching tracks, they grow up just a little, enough to see their faults and deliver a fucking great follow up.
