Saturday, March 8, 2008

Band Spotlight: The Libertines


History: Pete Doherty and Carl Barât met in 1997 when they were both in college. In 1998, they started recording songs as The Libertines with three other members: Steve Bedlow, John Hassall, and Johnny Borrell. In 2001, the band signed to Rough Trade Records. The band's first album, Up The Bracket, was released in 2002. In 2003, Barât and Doherty's relationship started to fall to pieces. Doherty's drug use was at an all-time high so the responsible Barât said to Doherty that he wouldn't play alongside him unless he cleaned up. Doherty never cleaned up and in 2004 he was arrested for possession of an offensive weapon. By the end of 2004, Doherty wasn't playing with the band at all. Barât decided to just let the band dissolve and on December 17 the band played its last show.

Years Active: 1997-2004

Line-Up:
Pete Doherty - Vocals; Guitar
Carl Barât - Vocals; Guitar
Gary Powell - Drums
John Hassall - Bass

Label: Rough Trade Records

Genre: Punk Rock

Musical Style: The Libertines play a noisy and lo-fi type of Punk. To put it best, they sound most like the Buzzcocks. Play "Ever Fallen In Love" by the Buzzcocks and then play just about any Libertines song and you will see that their musical styles are exactly alike. Doherty wanted to make the band better than garage rock greats The Strokes. That said, you are going to find a lot of garage/post-punk revival rock in Libertine music.

Best Album: The Libertines (2004)

Top Songs:
"Bangkok"
"Can't Stand Me Now"
"Cola Queen"
"I Get Along"
"Music When The Lights Go Out"
"Narcissist"
"Someone Else's Song"
"Time For Heroes"
"Up The Bracket"
"What Became of the Likely Lads"

Influences: The Jam, The Smiths, Suede, Chas & Dave, The Velvet Underground, The Clash, The Doors, Django Reinhardt, Buzzcocks, The Beatles

Influenced: The Kooks, Metro Riots, Razor Light, Arctic Monkeys

Why You Should Listen to The Libertines: I am going to just come out and say it: The Libertines were one of the best Punk bands of all time. Yes, they rank up there right alongside The Clash, The Dead Kennedy's, and the Ramones.

Grade - 97 - Amazing



3 comments:

  1. I haven't listened to a lot of their music, but from what I have heard they do not sound punk. I'm not saying they suck, they are a good band, but I do not know if I would call it punk.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Libertines are the greatest band ever.
    You only have to see them perform to know that no one else can ever live up to them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So apparently the song "Cola Queen" that you have listed here isn't actually by these Libertines, but rather an older, American band of the same name.

    I've been searching for the better part of an hour trying to solve this mystery as to where it came from and that's the best information I've gotten.

    ReplyDelete

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