11.

Dirty Pretty Things
Waterloo to Anywhere

Finally! Carl Barât got off his moping arse and reminded us what all the fuss was about before the circus started. Waterloo to Anywhere, much like last year’s Babyshambles debut, is, quite simply, another Libertines album. As such, there is little to distinguish Dirty Pretty Things from Babyshambles in terms of style. However, in terms of quality, Barât has left his drugged-up former cohort for dead. This is not simply a Libertines album, it is easily the best Libertines album since that band’s genre altering debut, Up the Bracket. Barât has, somehow, emerged intact from the aftermath of The Libertines, and has produced one of the best indie rock albums of the year. The songwriting is exceptional, the swagger is back, and the whole thing is so easy for him. This is what I fell in love with, way back when. ‘Bang Bang, You’re Dead’ provides a quality sing-a-long amongst many, ‘Gin & Milk’ kicks ass by way of a funky bass riff and ‘Last of the Small Town Playboys’ plays with my expectations every time I hear it (in addition to these highlights, a mention should go to the minute and a bit of unadulterated punk that is ‘You Fucking Love It’). Blindin’.