The Libertines – The Libertines Review

Two years on from their tumultuous and somewhat influential debut, The Libertines returned with a self-titled effort. Up the Bracket had slick instrumentals working against a vocalist whose lyrics sometimes transcended the efforts around them. Hoping for some brighter sparks on The Libertines is certainly expected. This is a band that has its struggles but hopes to put them behind and strike for a new horizon, the clangs of cowbell matched up with solid electric guitar work from Carl Barât a positive sign. The Libertines once more struggle with the not-as-interesting back-and-forth between Barât and Pete Doherty. The likes of Can’t Stand Me Now do nothing to stand out from the surge of middling pop efforts with heavy reliance on guitar to follow. They are, in their own way, a prelude to The Hoosiers. 

Or at least The Libertines feels that way, with clunky guitar spectacles trying to capture a late-summer appeal. Its indie boom feels accidental and oriented toward the personal lives of the two main players in The Libertines rather than any talent within this one, which is stuffed full of random harmonica interludes, a defiant cry which is vaguely disguised as a love song and a bass guitarist suffering the effects of burial in the mixing booth. This is just first track Can’t Stand Me Now, though many issues on the first track are transferred over to the other fourteen tracks. Last Post on the Bugle is a frankly ugly track where The Libertines provide evidence of their one-trick efforts. Guitar work here, Doherty moaning away there. Interjections and the likes over the top of an almost randomised guitar structure from Barât. Miserable experiences come through repeatedly, as though Barât and Docherty are making different records of one another’s time.  

Have the luck, have the look The Man Who Would Be King warns. This is a slight and rare moment for The Libertines to triumph with, though the plodding instrumentals and sudden surge found elsewhere on this album would benefit here. Instead it is replaced by a droning lapse from Barât, the one time he could have been used to cover up the howls from Doherty. A soft steadiness to Music When The Lights Go Out gives The Libertines the cool drift they were hoping each track would hold. With the push and pull of Narcissist though, the troubles of The Libertines become clear, and it is through their belief that dumbing down Up the Bracket would benefit them. Quality guitar work or solid songwriting, but never at the same time. Arbeit Macht Frei is noise without the heart, and it is a struggle for The Libertines to launch into anything meaningful when their main goal turns from lyrical laments to loud and brash, Strokes-influenced explosions of sound.  

What Became of the Likely Lads indeed? What did become of them? For The Libertines, it does not matter – it is just another drop in the guitar-heavy, pop culture ocean. Their personable and experienced debut is miles away from this self-titled trial of fire. Repetitive and loud in the worst way possible, the likes of Campaign of Hate do conjure up those loathsome feelings. One of the great grifts of music history is the initial reception to the massive mess this self-titled effort is. Up the Bracket was the middling high, The Libertines melted the wax wings of Doherty and Barât and sees them crash back down to earth. This is a shock to the system, its influence and high praise from the past looking clunkier and crueller than ever.