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. 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.

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.

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