Underachievers Please Try Harder

Underachievers Please Try Harder is the second LP from the indie band Camera Obscura, released in 2003. The album was released in Australia by Popfrenzy.

Underachievers Please Try Harder
Studio album by Camera Obscura
Released	August 31, 2003
Genre	Indie pop
Length	43:37
Label	Merge
Producer	Geoff Alan, Camera Obscura
Camera Obscura chronology
Biggest Bluest Hi Fi (2001) Underachievers Please Try Harder (2003) Let's Get Out of This Country (2006)

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[3]
The List	[4]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Spin	A[7]
Uncut	[8]

Writing for AllMusic, critic Tim Sendra praised the album, again comparing the group to Belle and Sebastian and writing that "the band manages the rare feat of sounding full and rich without jamming every possible frequency with sound. It also throws in loads of imaginative little hooks that keep things lively".^[2] Scott Plagenhoef of Pitchfork wrote "Their honest, wide, and adult approach to heartbreak, romantic liaisons, and escapism is extended to the subtle range of influence — most of which is shown off on the tracks sung by John Henderson".^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Suspended from Class"	3:45
2.	"Keep It Clean"	3:13
3.	"A Sisters Social Agony"	3:58
4.	"Teenager"	3:39
5.	"Before You Cry"	2:58
6.	"Your Picture"	3:08
7.	"Number One Son"	4:06
8.	"Let Me Go Home"	3:34
9.	"Books Written for Girls"	5:12
10.	"Knee Deep at the NPL"	5:09
11.	"Lunar Sea"	4:55
Total length:		43:37

All tracks are written by Tracyanne Campbell.

US edition bonus tracks

12. "I Don't Want to See You"
13. "Footloose and Fancy Free"

Australian edition bonus tracks

12. "San Francisco Song"
13. "Amigo Mio"

Japanese edition bonus tracks

12. "I Don't Want to See You"
13. "Footloose and Fancy Free"
14. "SF Song"
15. "Amigo Mio"

Personnel

• Tracyanne Campbell – vocals, guitar
• Carey Lander – organ, piano, vocals
• Kenny McKeeve – vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin
• John Henderson – vocals, percussion
• Gavin Dunbar – bass
• Lee Thomson – drums
• Nigel Baillie – trumpet
• Geoff Allan – percussion, Stylophone

Production notes:

• Camera Obscura – producer
• Geoff Allan – producer, engineer
• Frank Arkwright – mastering
• Stuart Murdoch – photography