Waterloo To Anywhere

It would be hard to blame Carl Barat for releasing the musical equivalent of two vigorously outstretched V's aimed squarely at his one-time best friend and Libertines co-conspirator Pete Doherty.

After all, even if you could look past the fact that Doherty drove the final nails into the coffin of a band that was surely destined for international superstardom and huge record sales - if not continued critical success - he also seemed to revel in bad-mouthing Barat to anyone who'd listen. And he broke into his bandmate's house and sold his guitar for smack, which ain't cool either.

But in the wake of Doherty's slapdash and disappointing release Down In Albion comes a more consistent and more mature album from Barat's new band, Dirty Pretty Things - with former Libertines drummer Gary Powell and Anthony Rossomando, who added a second guitar in the band's last days.

Bang Bang You're Dead, the album's first single, opens with a few bars of melancholy trumpet before unleashing the chunky, halting rhythm guitar and the sloppy and wandering lead that are a staple of just about every song on the album. And those looking for evidence that the song is addressing Doherty don't need to do much digging: "I knew all along/ But I was loathe to believe/ There was nothing but spite/ Fury and lies in the webs that you weave."

But Barat characteristically brushed aside that explanation in a recent interview, saying that the song was actually about himself, and added that if it was about Doherty he would have called it Bang Bang Pete's Dead. The album, he says, is more of an optimistic lament than anything else.

And while the music is far from groundbreaking, its pure energy is hard to resist. The Gentry Cove flaunts a funky ska beat early on before building to a messy, angry climax, while Gin & Milk lets bassist Didz Hammond - formerly of the Cooper Temple Clause - show off his chops, and lets Barat release some pent-up rage. The Enemy, another strong offering, is destined to be sung along to by drunks everywhere.

What Waterloo to Anywhere should prove to most listeners is that Barat is a capable songwriter in his own right, and while it's far from a masterpiece, the album's pretty damn good.

Source:Bangkok Post