The Libertines
Anthems For Doomed Youth
(Virgin EMI)
And so another tour by The Libertines ends in disappointment for fans as Pete Doherty goes awol and a vague press release about him being "safe" after a "medical situation" is supposed to satisfy those who bothered to turn up for the gigs. Let's dampen down our cynicism about the eve-of-release timing of his disappearance too, and note instead that this long-awaited third album is a really excellent record despite (never because of) the inter-personal chaos that surrounds it.
The pace across the 12-track running time is notably slower than its predecessors, with less emphasis on the singalong calls-to-arms that rejuvenated UK guitar bands after the turn of the century. Instead, it's the likes of Anthem For Doomed Youth (with its whispers of Jarvis Cocker) and closer Dead For Love (which avoids self-pity by creating a genuinely melancholy mood) that emerge as the album highlights and point to the band that The Libertines could, but doubtlessly never will, become.
Elsewhere, the band's music-hall eccentricities briefly linger in Fame And Fortune, segments of which would fit a Mary Poppins soundtrack, while the punkish Glasgow Coma Scale Blues squeezes out autobiographical poison. I've a soft spot for Carl Barat's self-titled solo album and there are moments of near-brilliance on the Babyshambles records, but Barat and Doherty's creative output is always best when they're together. The proof is on the vinyl, not in the baggage.
Alan Morrison
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