Waterloo To Anywhere

Barat shines in hook-filled gems

Rock fans can't resist a screwed-up, drug-addled, flameout genius, and Pete Doherty is about as archetypal as they come. As co-leader of English punk revivalists The Libertines, Doherty parlayed his abundant songwriting gifts and gripping stage presence into global fame, massive amounts of narcotics, repeated run-ins with the law and, lest we forget, Kate Moss.

While Doherty's career and legal status remain in limbo, his old partner in crime, Carl Barat, has to be wondering whom he has to kill to get some attention. Barat was equally responsible for the brilliance of the Libs' instant-classic 2002 debut, "Up the Bracket," and now he's fronting a new band, Dirty Pretty Things, who are making music better than anything Doherty has managed in nearly four years with a fraction of the headlines.

"Waterloo to Anywhere" (Interscope) doesn't deviate too radically from Barat's past pop-punk efforts, but that's hardly a problem if tight, attitudinal nuggets such as "Bang Bang You're Dead" and "Gin and Milk" are the result. Barat may have a reputation as the comparatively more stable Libertines principal, but the best Dirty Pretty songs are the ones where Barat sounds the most unhinged and explosive.

"Deadwood" is a kinetic, rollicking opener, while "If You Love a Woman" treads a thin but exhilarating line between empathy and utter ridiculousness, courtesy of Barat's manic yelping of the refrain "If you love a woman/you mustn't beat her."

"Waterloo to Anywhere" features plenty of veiled jabs at Doherty for the dirt-obsessed among us to pore over and interpret, but Barat's post-Libs debut is far more useful as a storehouse for his hook-filled talents than as a soap opera anyway. Best to leave the rock-as-life maladies to his star-crossed former band mate.

By Josh Love
Source:newsobserver.com