The New Classics #47: Up The Bracket, The Libertines

Title: Up The Bracket
Artist: The Libertines
Year: 2002
Label: Rough Trade

One of the big musical stories of the 2000s was the return to rock, both in the United States and in the U.K. While us Americans had our Strokes and our White Stripes to carry the burden of rock, the English had the Libertines, a shambling quartet from London, led by future gossip column mainstay Pete Doherty and the comparatively stable Carl Barât. Like their American contemporaries, the Libertines brought rock back to its garage roots, playing lean, mean, gritty blues riffs over a crisp rhythm section. However, the Libertines infused their music with a tremendous sense of place and pride, following in Britpop's footsteps by celebrating the Union Jack and all that was English.

The Libertines' debut album, Up The Bracket, features twelve sharp, snappy songs about running around town, getting drunk, chasing after women and just generally being, well, a libertine. Given an extra level of authenticity by Doherty's and Barât's drawling, heavily accented singing style, the Libertines' songs sound like that perfect night when everyone is just drunk enough to get along with anyone who walks in the door. Even at their most lyrically forlorn, the songs on Up The Bracket maintain a certain cheerfulness, suggesting that everything happening is just part of life in the Libertines' eyes. Doherty and Barât storytelling is too detailed to be simply imagined, especially on epic songs of daily struggle like "Up The Bracket."

Behind that ragged optimism, though, lies a fierce pride towards England, especially in relation to America. The anthemic "Time For Heroes" features the stinging lyric "there are fewer more distressing sights than that of an Englishman in a baseball cap," while "The Boy Looked At Johnny" acknowledges that "New York City's very pretty in the night time, but don't you miss Soho?" In the video for the title track, the four Libertines prance around dressed as Queen's Guards, while friends of the band wave a Union Jack in the background. In this sense, the Libertines were a logical extension of bands like Oasis and Blur, who championed being English in the face of increasing global Americanization. However, rather than copying Oasis' stadium rock (and delusions of grandeur), the Libertines brought that attitude back to street level, playing pub-ready rock, full of stories with everyman heroes and villains.

Up The Bracket is a stunning album, especially given that it was the band's debut. Sadly, like so many artists on this list, the Libertines never got the chance to live up to the promise this album hinted at. Doherty's drug use and legal issues drove a rift between him and the rest of the band. Barât, ever the level-headed one, decided put the band to rest in 2004, after one more lackluster album and a seemingly endless slog through the tabloids. Doherty formed a new band, Babyshambles, before taking a stab at a solo career, while Barât fronted Dirty Pretty Things, featuring Libertines drummer Gary Powell. None of those endeavors resulted in much of anything and early this year, the band announced plans to reunite and play assorted summer festivals. Music lovers the world over remain cautiously optimistic, but no matter what shape the band is in now, we still have Up The Bracket. Combining charmingly ramshackle guitar rock, piercing lyricism and so much attitude (just listen to the wonderful "fuck 'em!" on "I Get Along"), the Libertines crafted an album perfectly in tune with the prevailing zeitgeist of the times, bringing rock back to a dirtier, more dangerous place while simultaneously striking a blow for ol' Britannia.

Next up on The New Classics: Return To Cookie Mountain, TV On The Radio