After the orchestral extravaganza of 2004's fantastic No Cities Left, the Dears didn't leave themselves much room on their next album to go even bigger, lusher, more orchestral. There's still the propensity for classical resolutions and progressions, but it's much more of a rock record than their last. "Bandwagoneers" is a lovely piece with solid guitars and a smooth intensity that comes not only from the lush instrumentation but also from the fluctuations in Lightburn's voice. Equally good is the poppy "Hate Then Love," which keeps the ascending scales while still incorporating catchy melodies and simple chords. "I Fell Deep" begins with something like an interpretation of the piano riff from Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" and turns bluesy with an organ and background chorus, almost fit for musical theater, while "Whites Only Party" is lyrically complicated but sticks to basic, quick-moving acoustic guitar and piano with a Western feel, complete with a frontier-town-inspired guitar solo. Still, everything on the album is very much the Dears, very much how they've always presented themselves, very much what they've always done. They're a little less baroque, they're a little less depressing (maybe Lightburn's marriage to bandmate Natalia Yanchak helped things here), but they're just as emotional and affecting, which makes Gang of Losers very good indeed. (All Music Guide)

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TRACK LIST Disc One – Gang of Losers 1. Sinthtro 2. Ticket to Immortality 3. Death or Life We Want You 4. Hate Then Love 5. There Goes My Outfit 6. Bandwagoneers 7. Fear Made the World Go Round 8. You and I Are a Gang of Losers 9. Whites Only Party 10. Ballad of Humankindness 11. I Fell Deep 12. Find Our Way to Freedom

Disc Two – Australia & NZ only Bonus Disc 1. Raise the Dead 2. The Highest 3. There Goes My Outfit (Acoustic) 4. Ticket to Immortality (Acoustic)

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