The Libertines Album: “Up the Bracket [US Bonus Tracks]”

I had heard a bit about this band before I heard it playing in the CD store and impulse-bought it. Any given review of "Up The Bracket" compared it to the same set of bands: The Clash, The Jam, The Kinks, and The Strokes. As much as I loved the Strokes' debut album, The Libertines are doing it better...The melodies are more complex, the hooks are catchier, the production is rawer. This album will insinuate itself into heavy rotation on your stereo if you give it a chance. The faster, punkier songs will grab your attention at first, but it's the slower tracks that really stick.

Apparently there are two singers (though i can't tell who's who), and they are both big fans of degenerate debauchery. It sounds like they have to play this way or die, and its this urgency that's kept the best tracks on my iPod, and in my head, for the past week.

The Libertines debut record Up The Bracket was heralded as a revival of British musical greatness in the rock 'n' roll scene. This acclaim isn't without its foundations either since Up The Bracket is one of the most impressive releases to come out of the UK since Supergrass' I Should Coco. Although it is only slightly less impressive than the afore mentioned Supergrass album, it is still a no holds barred punk album that catches the listener upon the first listen with its intense hooks. A lot of the material here can be considered British Punk but The Libertines manage to go beyond just a label and weave one of the most beautifully played ballads in recent memory with "Radio America." It's an astonshingly sloppy take at a ballad but the rawness of it is where the appeal lies. The same sloppy energy becomes the charm of the entire album and its nice to hear something that's not so processed (at least not so noticably) in the studio. With such memorable street tales as "Boys In The Band," "Up The Bracket," and "I Get Along," the debut from The Libertines will be held as a new standard for innovations in the punk rock genre.

I was most excited about this album. The Libertines are my great hopes for this year and following the failures of my previous hopes for the next best thing (Terris, who just weren't commercial enough, and King Adora, whose album simply wasn't good enough) I thought it could be third time lucky. Their single What A Waster/I Get Along is surely the best debut single in a very long time, and the album's title track is equally brilliant, and with both making the Top 30, plus the album being produced by Mick Jones of The Clash, I was hoping for great things.

Well, to begin with, Up The Bracket bears very few surprises. This is a shambling, deliberately rawly-produced punk rock album as indicated by the singles. The songs comically but accurately portray London life (if you are someone like these guys, and let's face it, few people are).

The lumping of The Libertines with The Strokes, Hives et al in the garage-rock movement is, I feel, a little unfair. The Libertines sounds far rawer, edgier and punkier than any of these other bands. While The Strokes may be heavily influenced by punk, it is somewhat mislabelling them to call them a punk band, while for The Libertines it is not. The Libertines are also more exciting than any of these bands, I feel.

But can they carry it out over an album? The worry is that The Libertines' album tracks will not be half as good as their singles. Alarmingly, scanning the tracklist, only one half of their debut single is included: I Get Along. What A Waster not being included is on a par with Bohemian Rhapsody not being included on the US greatest hits of Queen: a travesty, it being The Libertines' best song.

Nevertheless, Up The Bracket is a promising album. Admittedly, its best songs are the singles: I Get Along - the most Strokes-esque song, but still a punkier, better version of them; and the title track, a fantastic, rousing punk number which almost makes up for the absence of What A Waster. The album tracks also are of good quality, however. The riff to Tell The King screams "quality"; Horrorshow is pleasingly fast, messy and catchy; and opener Vertigo, while starting out with a horrible country-meets-punk riff, sound improves into a singalong chorus. Boys In The Band is cheeky and catchy also, while Radio America is the album's oddity, the live-sounding Radio America, sounding all mid-American and folksy.

Many of these tracks sound less good on first play, but after two or three they become favourites which are great to singalong to. While Up The Bracket doesn't quite fulfil the greatness of the singles, it is still a promising album stuffed with quality which heralds a chance for punk to be revived. 3 1/2 stars.

As an old, jaded punk rocker who grew up with bands like the Clash, the Jam, and the UK Subs, my hopes weren't too high when my good buddy put on the debut album by The Libertines. After a few songs, I began to shake off the fuzz of too many years of poseurs striving for greatness through the sheer weight of ego, and really began to listen. By the time "I Get Along" played, I couldn't keep my head still. These boys are the real thing from top to bottom. Sure, they could be less sloppy, and I suppose they might be too British for some people. But there is simply no denying their originality, energy, and incredible song writing talent. If you miss the good old days of real Brit mod and punk, give the Libertines a listen. You'll be hooked.

That's all I wanted to say