(Rough Trade)
So much is written about the Libertines that the actual Libertines have become obscured. Their music, raucous garage with brit-pop sensibility, has long taken a back seat in the press to Pete Doherty's drug addictions and the damage they've caused. Doherty's relationship with the rest of the Libertines has been tenuous at best. He has acknowledged his heroin and crack addiction to the press and, after robbing his bandmate's house to feed his habits, was sent to jail. These stories are what people talk about, not the songs. Even in reviews, the band's quality is dosed with their exploits. So when the Libertines' just-released eponymous disc was said to be rougher than their first, it was easy to take 'rough' as a code word for 'Doherty is going to jail or rehab or something just as grim and this was the best we could come up with.'
But if the album was written quickly it doesn't show. So, though the Libertines' production techniques sway toward the 1980's lo-fi aesthetic, rough probably refers to the wavering sound on the album. Each song sounds like it was recorded in one take, occasionally coming very close to falling apart.
While their first album made them out to be the British Strokes, forges a new identity for the band. With Ramones-like drums and Pulp-like guitars, The Libertines' new tracks are punky and pretty at the same time. It's a tremendous step forward, even if they are more then a few steps from escaping their drug-based image for a music-based one.
It's this shadow that will make the songs sound autobiographical, or at least incredibly personal. That the album is called \The Libertines"" does little to dispel it. Lover's arguments on ""Can't Stand Me Now"" become band mates arguing. ""The Saga,"" with its declaration that ""When you let down your friends/when you let down the people ... only fools, vultures and undertakers will have any time for you,"" becomes the saga of the band.
One part Clash and one part Oasis, the Libertines have produced one of the better albums this year. Alongside a triumphant return for The Hives, The Libertines shows the garage trend may still have some steam left in it. It is always unclear, however, how much more steam Doherty has within him. Outside whatever strife the band litters the papers with, the Libertines are still a pretty great band.
