Tracklisting
Deadwood
Doctors and Dealers
Bang Bang You're Dead
Blood Thirsty B***ards
The Gentry Cove
Gin & Milk
The Enemy
If You Love A Woman
You F***ing Love It
Wondering
Last of the Small Town Playboys
B.U.R.M.A
Right, so Dirty Pretty Things then. Dirty Pretty Things are a band formed by 'the other' Libertine, Carl Barat, after the collapse of the Libertines due to the erratic behaviour of Pete Doherty, whose drug addictions, clashes with the British tabloids and relationship with Kate Moss led him to form Babyshambles after he was considered too much of a chaotic mess by the rest of the band to continue touring. As Doherty's band released a good, if slightly mediocre album, 'Down In Albion', in late 2005, Barat was working on new band Dirty Pretty Things, putting together a group he felt could carry on where he couldn't continue with the Libertines.
Libertines bassist John Hassall left to form Yeti, a band in a similar vein to the Libertines, while Barat kept hold of drummer Gary Powell, a man whose drumming seemed to hold the loose post garage punk stylings of the Libertines together. Barat then brought another guitarist, Anthony Rossomando and former Cooper Temple Clause bassist Didz Hammond. The band toured in late 2005 and into 2006 before recording their debut album, 'Waterloo To Anywhere.'
And here it is, an album that has been almost lusted after by many Libertines fans after the letdown that Doherty's album turned out to be. So is it better than 'Down In Albion'? Yes. Is it better than either of the Libertines albums? Maybe. Some will argue, I'm sure, but it is possibly better than 'The Libertines' if not as good as 'Up The Bracket', the Libertines debut.
In the album itself, it appears that Barat wats to purge himself of the mess that surrounded Doherty towards the end of The Libertines and the break up of a great friendship. In the lead single, 'Bang Bang You're Dead', Barat looks to nail the final nail in the coffin of his friendship with Doherty, or at least their artistic kinship. 'I knew all along...about the seeds of the weeds, that grew in your heart' he sings with a rasping chorus of 'Bang bang, you're dead, always so easily led.' Here we have a Barat hellbent on exorcising his demons about the breakup of a musical mariage that was almost as big for Libertines fans as the Marr/Morrissey split was for Smiths fans. The rest of the album, barring the almost ballady B.U.R.M.A, has a similarly relentless pace, the two guitars clashing satisfyingly while the rhythm section keeps the whole album sounding tight. The highlights on the album are varied, the clashing post punk yelping of 'You F***ing Love It' and opening track 'Deadwood' being highlights on a strong album, while 'Gin & Milk' is also an outstanding song with the chorus of 'Nobody gives a f*** about the values i care for...Give me something to die for' again harking back to the Libertines split.
The only bad point that I can make out about this album is that, where Babyshambles clearly missed Barat's influence in keeping the whole album tight and thinning out the filler a bit, 'Waterloo To Anywhere' appears to miss the more poetic Doherty in giving it a slightly softer song that may have made the album better
Overall this is an outstanding album, if you were looking forward to 'Down In Albion' and felt let down, give this a go, it's the most Libertines-esque thing around at the minute and the band do not seem in a rush to be found face down in a pub toilet or taken to court for possession of narcotics.
PROS:
Closest thing to the Libertines at the moment
Good musicianship and lyrics
CONS:
Misses Doherty's more poetic nature
Another band for NME to ridiculously over hype
TRACKS FOR DOWNLOAD:
Bang Bang You're Dead
Deadwood
Gin & Milk
You F***ing Love It
NB: Please go easy on me, this is my first ever review! cheers
