The Libertines [PA] by Libertines (The) (CD, Aug-2004, Rough Trade)

Album Features
UPC:	060768325029
Artist:	Libertines (The)
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2004
Record Label:	Rough Trade
Genre:	Brit Pop, Rock & Pop

Track Listing
1. Can't Stand Me Now
2. Last Post on the Bugle
3. Don't Be Shy
4. Man Who Would Be King, The
5. Music When the Lights Go Out
6. Narcissist
7. Ha Ha Wall, The
8. Arbeit Macht Frei - (German)
9. Campaign of Hate
10. What Katie Did
11. Tomblands
12. Saga, The
13. Road to Ruin
14. What Became of the Likely Lads

Details
Producer:	Mick Jones
Distributor:	BMG (distributor)
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Contains an untitled hidden track following "What A Waster".The Libertines include: Carl Barat (vocals, guitar).Audio Mixers: Mick Jones ; Bill Price .Recording information: metropolis Studios, London, England (2004).The first British band to rival the garage rock revival sparked by the Strokes and White Stripes in the U.S., the Hives in Sweden, and the Datsuns in, er, New Zealand, the Libertines burst onto the scene with Up the Bracket, a debut album so confident and consistent that the easiest way to describe it is 2002's answer to Is This It. That's not just because singer/guitarist Pete Doherty's slurred, husky vocals sound like Julian Casablancas' with the added bonus of a fetching Cockney accent (or that both groups share the same tousled, denim-clad fashion sense); virtually every song on Up the Bracket is chock-full of the same kind of bouncy, aggressive guitars, expressive, economic drums, and irresistible hooks that made the Strokes' debut almost too catchy for the band's credibility. However, the resemblance is probably due more to the constant trading of musical ideas between the States and the U.K. than to bandwagon-jumping -- the Strokes' sound owes as much to Britpop sensations like Supergrass (who had the Libertines as their opening band on their 2002 U.K. tour) and Elastica as it does to American influences like the Stooges and the Velvet Underground. Likewise, the Libertines play fast and loose with four decades' worth of British rock history, mixing bits and bobs of British Invasion, mod, punk, and Britpop with the sound of their contemporaries.On paper it sounds horribly calculated, but (also like the Strokes' debut) in practice it's at once fresh and familiar. Mick Jones' warm, not-too-rough, and not-too-polished production both emphasizes the pedigree of their sound and the originality of it: on songs like "Vertigo," "Death on the Stairs," and the excellent "Boys in the Band," the guitars switch between Merseybeat chime and a garagey churn as the vocals range from punk snarls to pristine British Invasion harmonies. Capable of bittersweet beauty on the folky, Beatlesque "Radio America" and pure attitude on "Horrorshow," the Libertines really shine when they mix the two approaches and let their ambitions lead the way. "Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?" begins "Time for Heroes," an oddly poetic mix of love and war that recalls the band's spiritual and sonic forefathers the Clash; "The Good Old Days" blends jazzy verses, martial choruses, and lyrics like "It's not about tenements and needles and all the evils in their eyes and the backs of their minds." On songs like these, "Tell the King," and "Up the Bracket," the group not only outdoes most of its peers but begins to reach the greatness of the Kinks, the Jam, and all the rest of the groups whose brilliant melodic abilities and satirical looks at British society paved the way. Though the album is a bit short at 36 minutes, that's long enough to make it a brilliant debut; the worst you can say about its weakest tracks is that they're really solid and catchy. Punk poets, lagered-up lads, London hipsters -- the Libertines play many different roles on Up the Bracket, all of which suit them to a tee. At this point in their career they're not as overhyped as many of their contemporaries, so enjoy them while they're still fresh. ~ Heather Phares

Editorial Reviews
4 stars out of 5 - [A]n extraordinary, challenging second LP, suffused with tenderness and anger...
Mojo

Ranked #57 in Mojo's 100 Modern Classics -- The Libertines slap you in the chops like a Francis Bacon painting.
Mojo

At their best, the Libertines are a band worthy of the overseas claims that they're the next Kinks or Jam.
CMJ

[T]he catchy THE LIBERTINES mostly proves the Brits have always taken their pop much more seriously than we ever have.
Magnet

Ranked #22 in Uncut's Best New Albums of 2004 - [Their] punk discharges on love, drugs and mutual loathing sound beautifully, if brutally, honest.
Uncut

5 stars out of 5 - If rock 'n' roll is all about freedom and the consequences that come with that, there's never been a better handbook.
Uncut

[L]ike The Clash's LONDON CALLING before it, repeat listenings reveal an endless succession of gorgeous hooks, spindly solos and tunes to hum forever.
Uncut

4 stars out of 5 - [B]rimming with character, easily surpassing their debut, its energy level like a battery charge.
Q

4 stars out of 5 - ...This lot splutter like unsafe fireworks. They could and should be huge...
Q (20031101)

Ranked #30 in Spin's 40 Best Albums of the Year - Barat concludes this beautiful train wreck with a warm-hearted yet cold-eyed three-song intervention...
Spin

[A] dark, tense record, but one still crackling with life. - Grade: A-
Spin

...This is music to play in dark, velvety, womblike bars; this is music to play while buying cigarettes....If the Libertines represent the first wave of well-Stroked clone bands, we are optimistic... - Grade: A
Spin (20030501)

Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - [T]he Libs still sound like a gloriously combustible rock & roll mess...
Rolling Stone

3 1/2 stars out of 5 - [N]o band in recent history has better captured the vertiginous experience of falling apart and loving it.
Rolling Stone

Included in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2003 - ...The thrill is hearing the Libertines try--not too hard--to keep it together...
Rolling Stone (20031225)