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When the comet that was the UK’s Libertines streaked across the musical landscape in the early ’00s, the band became instant sensations, wooing fans with a woozy blend of anthemic melodicism and a shambolic, perilous swagger that seemed ready to implode at every other turn. The group’s collapse precipitated two new bands from the Libertines’ dual singer/songwriters. Though there are overlaps, each band has illuminated who brought what to the Libertines. Judging from the music of Babyshambles, tabloid darling/dead pool frontrunner Pete Doherty was largely responsible for the ‘Tines’ untidiness, while Carl Bart’s debut with Dirty Pretty Things shows him to be the Pop auteur. Though still somewhat reckless and wound up, Waterloo to Anywhere is relatively finessed. Bart steadily steers the band through the scruffy, precarious Pop of tracks like “Deadwood” and “Bang Band You’re Dead,” all the while retaining a serated-edged verve, but also showing a craftsmanship that was somewhat veiled beneath the ‘Tines’ stumbling, poetic vigor. The Arctic Monkeys picked up The Libertines’ misplaced torch with their much-hyped debut album, but this reintroduction by Bart shows he’s ready to snag it back. What U.S. music fans know as “Pop Punk” is a diluted, glossed-up beast; for a more accurate definition of the term, look no further than this imposing debut. (MB) Grade: A
This article appears in Aug 23-29, 2006.