Up The Bracket

The Libertines burst onto the scene with Up the Bracket, a debut album so confident and consistent that it reinvigorated U.K. indie and immediately established them as the equal of Stateside peers like the Strokes. United by Mick Jones' warm, not-too-rough and not-too-polished production, the album finds the Libertines playing fast and loose with four decades' worth of British rock history, mixing bits and bobs of British Invasion, dub, punk, and Britpop with the sound of their contemporaries. At its best, the album emphasizes the originality of the Libertines' sound as well as its pedigree: on songs like "Vertigo," "Death on the Stairs," and the excellent "Boys in the Band," the guitars switch between Merseybeat chime and a garagey churn as the vocals range from punk snarls to pristine British Invasion harmonies. Capable of bittersweet beauty on the folky, Beatles-esque "Radio America" and pure attitude on "Horrorshow," the Libertines shine brightest when they mix the two approaches and let their ambitions lead the way. "Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?" begins "Time for Heroes," a poetic mix of love and war that recalls the band's spiritual and sonic forefathers the Clash; "The Good Old Days" blends jazzy verses, martial choruses, and lyrics like "It's not about tenements and needles and all the evils in their eyes and the backs of their minds." On songs like these, "Tell the King," and "Up the Bracket," the group not only outdoes most of its peers but aspires to the greatness of the Kinks, the Jam, and the rest of the groups whose brilliant melodic abilities and satirical looks at British society paved the way. Punk poets, lagered-up lads, London hipsters -- the Libertines play many different roles skillfully on Up the Bracket, a brash introduction to a band who revered history even as they were making their own. ~ Heather Phares