The Libertines sit in a bizarre state of overexposed and mythical. The only band that I can think of to even come close to them is The Smiths and even that feels weird.
The foursome exploded on the NME scene with all the hallmarks of headline grabbing escapades away from the stage with the occasional glimmer of musical brilliance on it. Of course, I say foursome, but it was the song writing partnership of Barât/Doherty that was most intriguing.
Like their forefathers Lennon/McCartney, Marr/Morrissey and Sylvester/Tweety, it couldn't last and by the time their self-titled second album hit the big time, the working relationship of the pair had spectacularly exploded for all the world to see.
In the post Libertines world, the band struggled to either break their previous shackles or live up to them. Whilst it only took two years before the NME ditched their previous prodigal sons in favour of the Arctic Monkeys, Doherty kept the press entertained with his beleaguered, drug-induced antics until, they too, grew bored with him.
A comeback, whilst never seeming inevitable, did come about and with their first new release in over a decade and numerous life changes and new musical tastes to boot.
For those wondering whether Anthems for Doomed Youth could ever live up to expectations, it kicks off with older track Barbarians finally making a studio debut. Rocky and familiar, but lacking the edge of the Libertines of old and at over three and a half minutes, it catapults to one of the longer tracks in the band's back catalogue.
The album itself is full of these longer moments rather than the short appetisers that made up their previous two albums. The near title-track opens with either a deliberate nod to Babyshambles indie anthem Fuck Forever or the latter merely picked it up when The Libertines seemed for all intents and purposes deceased.
Rather than the camden pub crawl of loud guitars and uncut percussion, the album sounds more relaxed and stripped back. Part of this can be attributed to the five week period when the album was recorded in Thailand but another being the band members are a decade older and more haggard. Of course without Thailand, you'd never get Gunga Din.
The least likely title in Libertines' canon (although taken from a Rudyard Kipling poem which is right up Doherty's street), the song is the closest the band get to capturing the days of old, talking of nights best forgotten before trying to overcome them, it's quiet verses to explosive choruses before a clattering outro is a welcome return from the days of old and the obvious lead single from the album.
As easy as it is to mock Barât and especially Doherty for the drug-addled wrecks they've spewed to the delight of headline makers, lyrically, Anthems... is your typical Libertines, in that it's strong, thought provoking and deep. Fame and Fortune handles the then new-fount fame the band received and their signed record deal whilst The Milkman's Horse, whilst musically more than a passing resemblance to Radiohead's Creep, lyrically mentions literal scum invading Doherty's dreams and ruining them.
The biggest fault with the record is that it should have ended here, The Milkman's Horse is a nice throwback to early nineties Britpop and has slow and triumphant music with a catchy vocal hook...but there's still another two songs to go and neither really have the same effect of a send-off.
Glasgow Coma Scale Blues is heavy and rocky and really should have been featured in the middle of the record when there's a bit of a lull with a nice nod to Boys in the Band, whilst closer Dead for Love is a five minute ballad that would have sat more at home on Doherty's solo album. It's a decent track and Doherty's unusual voice makes the pun of 'you only ever did for love' a tad less subtle, but I still prefer Milkman... but maybe that's me.
As mentioned, the middle of the album also has a bit of a lull as the longer track times begin to take their toll and grate. You're My Waterloo is more of Doherty's solo ballads infiltrating the record which sound mostly generic guitar pop although a nice bridge nearly saves it. Second longest track Iceman starts off with Doherty and Barât seemingly jamming with acoustic guitars before Hassall's bass and Powell's drums enter the foray to complete a simple track that never should have passed the three minute mark.
Although the length of some of the songs and the record in general is a bit jarring for those who've waited since 2004, those who did give Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things a listen have had more than enough time and releases to adjust to this new Libertines sound.
Yes, they've gotten slower and it sounds like the days of ditty two minute bursts of electric guitar are gone, but Anthems... is a good record, not revolutionary like Up the Bracket or self-titled, but instead showcases the band at their most mature and at times, their happiest.
In 2004, The Libertines left us asking 'What Became of the Likely Lads and the dreams they had?'. A decade later and numerous changes with different monikers and different sounds shows they made amends, went to Thailand, made a couple anthems and are still as captivating as before.
7/10
H
@Retcon_Nation
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