Waterloo To Anywhere
In the Libertines family, Carl Barat's the good son. He dutifully stayed clean, stayed touring and stayed positive while his brother-in-rock, Pete Doherty's self-destructive bent slowly destroyed the band. After The Libertines fractured, Barat kept his nose clean, while Doherty racked up attention for assaulting photographers, drugs, robberies, drugs, nearly ruining Kate Moss' modeling career, drugs, skipping concerts, drugs talking to Jesus, drugs, spraying people with syringes of blood and drugs.
Now, with Dirty Pretty Things' debut, Barat proves that nice guys don't always finish last. While Doherty and his band, Babyshambles, were out making headlines, Dirty Pretty Things-which features ex-Libertines drummer Gary Powell and guitarist Anthony Rossamondo and Cooper Temple Clause bassist Didz Hammond-were putting in the long hours, writing, rehearsing and recording. It's the difference between Babyshambles' mediocre debut and Waterloo to Anywhere's assertion of Barat's rock'n'roll superiority.
Unsurprisingly, Waterloo to Anywhere doesn't stray too far from The Libertines' modern British punk sound. Barat juggles big-guitar melodies and sing-along stretches that suggest hints of everyone from his former band to The Jam, all while reigning in his outfit, loosing some of the roughshod, off-the-cuff feel of The Libertines. The newfound order has its ups and downs: Dirty Pretty Things lose some of the immediacy and danger of their predecessor, but gain a muscular, confident sheen. It's a change that isn't enough for Barat to completely rebound from the loss of his songwriting partner, but it's enough to make Dirty Pretty Things' sound a capable successor until Doherty cleans up his act and arranges for a Libertines reunion.
Most of Waterloo to Anywhere pursues a stylish and stomping interpretations on the classic punk canon. Album opener "Deadwood" jumps out of the block with a full-on Red Bull and vodka buzz, full of energy and slightly sloppy guitar tones. The cranky "Gin and Milk" has more booze than dairy, bouncing through a punked-up and buzzed-back barrage of wiry riffs and Barat's sardonic witticisms, while "You Fucking Love It" is like taking The Jam and The Clash's first few singles and playing them simultaneously through a six-foot tall speaker. If Doherty and his crew have to work not to nod off mid-song, Barat and company are jittering and sweating with excess energy: Every track on Waterloo to Anywhere is a fiery, molten-hot chunk of rock'n'roll shrapnel perfect for true-blue lovers of punk and raw rock alike.
Finally, the nice guy comes in first. Doherty and Babyshambles can have their reputation for instability and outrageous antics. Barat and Dirty Pretty Things have Waterloo to Anyhwere. Now who's Britain's preeminent rocker, Petey?
4/5
By Matt Schild
Source:
Aversion
