Romance At Short Notice
The second release from ex-Libertine Carl Barāt and his cronies is remarkable only in its unremarkable-ness.
The rose-tinted romanticism and spring-heeled exuberance of lead single Tired Of England makes to trade on his turn-of-the-century heyday with The Libertines, but lacks the lyrical punch Pete Doherty occasionally evinces.
Barāt bares his soul on the Lib's trainwreck on Faultlines ('You know you want to run away/We shed our dreams and nearly everything inbetween'), but lacklustre singing and forgettable strums leave it as lifeless as the group he so obviously still mourns.
Elsewhere there's a mix of bolshy sonic bluster and drugs references, but the lack of alchemy and drive disappoints.
2/5
Source:
Saffron Walden Reporter 24
