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Rating:
Eleven years. How many things change, especially in the ever-shifting musical landscape of Albion.
A pair of dazzling albums. Then the trashed hotel rooms, the fights, the drugs, the home burglaries, then the abandonment, and finally the curtain call. A new band (the erratic Babyshambles) and a solo album for the "little genius" Pete Doherty, another new band (the decent Dirty Pretty Things) and just as many solo projects for the "little brother" Carl Barat. In the midst of it all, a couple of reunion attempts/bubbles that went bust, then more years of nothing, and now here we are.
Displayed proudly on the shelves of music stores is "Anthems For Doomed Youth," the third studio effort by The Libertines, perhaps the most dazzling illusion in the constellation of that bizarre abstract picture that was the indie-music scene of the 2000s. A high-profile producer (no longer the legendary Mick Jones but Jake Gosling, a much-nominated producer who has already worked the controls for Ed Sheeran) and off we go.
The beautiful "Barbarians" kicks off the dance, neither more nor less than what one would expect from an opener by the former golden duo Doherty/Barat. Nervous guitars, a nice touch of piano and mariachi, the usual singing style somewhere between bored and indolent. The hit "Gunga Din" also fully convinces, embellished with a nice dub touch and with a chorus that instantly sticks in your head. There is no shortage of garage shards, like the second excellent single "Glasgow Coma Scale Blues" or the very raw "Fury Of Chonbury". But the discourse becomes more interesting where the Libs finally demonstrate a fair amount of maturity, as in the exemplary title track, the pop singer-songwriter gem "Iceman", or the more complex closing "Dead For Love". An honorable mention also goes to the incisive new single "Heart Of The Matter" which is bound to become a small live classic.
The Libertines make a nice return, not transcendent but one that firmly repositions them in a context quite different from that shiny 2004. Proof that even in the midst of a storm, it's possible to find a way to take the reins and try to piece together the lost path.
Let’s hope it lasts, right Pete?
Best track: Heart Of The Matter
Tracklist
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