THE LIBERTINES
The Libertines Rough Trade
****

Though The Libertines' ongoing soap opera has removed focus from their music, behind the headlines they remain a band that have made some of the most thrilling pop of this generation. Up The Bracket, dramatising all the welcome mess and scuffed grandeur of London, was a brilliant début album of furious intent. And Don't Look Back Into The Sun, the bridging single between the two long-players, was a stand-up, dizzying classic. Considering the way their disentanglement has been played out in public - with Pete Doherty's jail-time, drug dependency and estrangement from his other half, Carl Barat, providing constant tabloid fodder - it's no surprise that this album is autobiographical, taking the doomed love affair between the two friends as its pulsing theme. Opener and highlight Can't Stand Me Now, with the pair of them barking the title at each other like a warring, married couple, sets the tone. The closer, What Became Of The Likely Lads, finds Carl wondering if something that was once great will ever be reclaimed. Between times we're treated to apologies from Pete for his wrong-doings, Music When The Lights Go Out, and to tracks like The Ha Ha Wall, about "getting strung out all day with lovers and clowns". It's a messy, ramshackle affair that at times feels half-baked. But there are enough glimmers of greatness - the ghosts of The Only Ones lurk, there are some brilliant lyrical flourishes - to make this an essential record and one that leaves you willing them to bring it all together again. www.thelibertines.com Paul McNamee