A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation

The Wombats Proudly Present A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, usually shortened to A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, is the debut major studio album by English rock band the Wombats. It was released by 14th Floor Records on 5 November 2007.[2] Most of the songs first appeared on the band's 2006 Japan-only album Girls, Boys and Marsupials. A DVD to accompany the album includes footage of the band at the South by Southwest festival, along with music videos from their recent singles.

A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation
Studio album by
Released5 November 2007
RecordedRockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales
Electric Lady Studios, New York City, United States
Brick Lane, London, England
RAK Studios, London, England
GenreIndie rock, post-punk, new wave
Length44:24
Label14th Floor
ProducerStephen Harris, The Wombats, Jimmy Robertson
The Wombats chronology
Girls, Boys and Marsupials
(2006)
A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation
(2007)
This Modern Glitch
(2011)
Singles from A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation
  1. "Backfire at the Disco"
    Released: 9 April 2007
  2. "Kill the Director"
    Released: 25 June 2007
  3. "Let's Dance to Joy Division"
    Released: 8 November 2007
  4. "Moving to New York (re-release)"
    Released: 14 January 2008
  5. "Backfire at the Disco (re-release)"
    Released: 21 April 2008
  6. "Kill the Director (re-release)"
    Released: 7 July 2008
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic65/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Digital Spy[3]
The Guardian[4]
LAUNCHcast(7/10)[5]
NME(7/10)[6]
Pitchfork Media(5.9/10)[7]
Spin[8]
stv.tv[9]
This Is Fake DIY[10]
Yahoo! Music UK[11]

The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios and reached No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart. It contains a pregap before the first track, which contains the band attempting to make wine glasses "ring" and extolling the virtues of the French wine Beaujolais, ending with them performing a mock advert for Beaujolais. The album had sold 335,361 copies in the UK as of April 2015.[12]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Matthew Murphy, except where noted; all music is composed by The Wombats, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Tales of Girls, Boys & Marsupials" (lyrics by The Wombats)1:10
2."Kill the Director"2:42
3."Moving to New York"3:31
4."Lost in the Post"3:06
5."Party in a Forest (Where's Laura?)"3:27
6."School Uniforms"3:14
7."Here Comes the Anxiety"2:31
8."Let's Dance to Joy Division"3:11
9."Backfire at the Disco"3:13
10."Little Miss Pipedream"4:12
11."Dr. Suzanne Mattox PhD" (includes elements from the chorus of "Help Me, Rhonda", by the Beach Boys)3:33
12."Patricia the Stripper"4:01
13."My First Wedding" (track ends at 4:36. hidden track; Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials piano instrumentation version)6:38
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
14."Derail and Crash"3:29
15."Metro Song"3:51
Bonus DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Let's Dance to Joy Division" (video) 
2."Kill the Director" (video) 
3."Backfire at the Disco" (video) 
4."Moving to New York" (video) 
5."The Wombats in Austin" 
6."Found Footage" 

Personnel

  • Matthew Murphy – vocals, guitar, synthesizers, piano
  • Dan Haggis – backing vocals, drums, synthesizers, piano, stylophone, harmonica, melodica
  • Tord Øverland-Knudsen – backing vocals, bass, synthesizers, cello
  • Llangattock Primary School – kids choir on "Let's Dance to Joy Division"
  • Ian McNabb - banjo

Charts and certifications

References

  1. "Reviews for A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation by The Wombats - Metacritic". Metacritic.
  2. Mason, Stewart. "A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation - The Wombats". AllMusic. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. Alex Fletcher. "The Wombats: 'A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation'". Digital Spy.
  4. Leonie Cooper. "CD: The Wombats, A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation". the Guardian.
  5. "LAUNCHcast review". yahoo.com.
  6. "NME Reviews - The Wombats: A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation". NME.
  7. "The Wombats: A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation". Pitchfork.
  8. Young, Jon (23 June 2008). "The Wombats, 'The Wombats Proudly Present…A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation'". Spin. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  9. "stv.tv review". Archived from the original on 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  10. Mutch, John (11 May 2007). "The Wombats - A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation: Album Review". This Is Fake DIY. Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  11. "Yahoo Celebrity UK". Yahoo.
  12. Jones, Alan (20 April 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Paul Simon scores 6th No.1 with 15,487 sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  13. "A Guide To Love Loss & Desperation". acharts.us.
  14. "The Wombats". billboard.com.
  15. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2008". officialcharts.com.
  16. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
  17. "British album certifications – The Wombats – A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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