The Genius Of Up the Bracket by The Libertines – Guitar.com

Twenty years ago, Up the Bracketlit the spark that saw Britain go up in a blaze of skinny jeans and leather jackets, with similarly minded indie acts flourishing alongside The Libertines throughout the 2000s.

Back in 2002, though, the Camden kings Anglo-leaning ethos set them apart from a set then spearheaded by The Strokes, one of most exciting new bands on the planet. The Libertines were nipping at the heels of Britpops heaviest hitters, ready to seize the torch from Oasis. They were fresh, determined and spoke to an unbridled hedonism that helped them earn the loyalty of their tribe. With their romantic veneration of Britains rock and literary canon, Pete Doherty, Carl Bart, John Hassall and Gary Powell were primed to become the countrys next obsession.

Marrying the blunt fury of The Clash with the poeticism of The Smiths, and the nicotine-stained thrill of early Suede with the pissed-at-the-piano rockney knees-ups of Chas & Dave, The Libertines were radically out of step with 2002s musical landscape. Up the Bracket landed a year after The Strokes debut Is This It, which cemented the New York act as the most effortlessly cool on the scene. This was the Libertines response: with The Clashs co-architect Mick Jones helming their debut (and Suedes Bernard Butler producing the bands non-album singles), Doherty, Bart and co were positioning themselves as the successors to the UKs hallowed indie lineage.

Clocking in at just over half an hour, Up the Brackethit like a hurricane. Recorded mainly live, Bart and Dohertys fuzz-soaked, galloping guitars ran roughshod over Hassall and Powells solid rhythm section. Throughout the albums 12 tracks, the Libs leading lyricists painted a warring picture of twin dimensions of Britain. Their songs were set amid vomit-soaked pubs and featured street-stalking debt collectors, hotel room hook-ups, and ride-or-die debauchery. Bart and Doherty also conjured visions of a long-lost, half-dreamed, mythical Albion, particularly on their penultimate manifesto The Good Old Days.

Purposefully lo-fi, Bart and Dohertys wilfully imprecise approach to guitar masked their true ability. Typically toting a Gibson Melody Maker (or SG), Barts penchant for seemingly spontaneous but actually well-mapped solos and riffs resulted in some of the records fiercest guitar work. Just listen to the white-knuckle closer I Get Along. Meanwhile, Doherty, then rarely seen without his Epiphone Coronet, demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for songcraft that underpins every minute of Up the Bracket.

Though the barbed wire riffage of Vertigo is an effective starting point, its on the albums second track, Death on the Stairs, that the clearest indication of The Libertines musical and emotional breadth can be found. Built around a swerving chord sequence, Barts jibing A riff keeps pace with the arrangement, as he and Doherty exchange lead vocals. The only let-up comes during the chorus sections sublime six-note motif.

On the heels of the unrelenting Horror Show, the magisterial Time for Heroes bursts out of the speakers with punchy Smiths-esque chords, lurching from a bright D major to a troubled Fm to a six-beat, punctuated G. The songs intensity builds with each successive verse before it erupts with Barts frenzied solo. Yes, their exterior was rickety but any band that could pen a song as vital as Time for Heroeshad to be worth your commitment.

The Libertines own distinct character is all over Up the Bracket but its an album clearly assembled from a well of influences. Theres the Clash-like truculence of the whirlwind title track, and the dreamy lull of Radio America, which elicits a misty image of Syd Barrett. Then theres the bawdy strut of Boys in the Band, which The Libertines: Bound Together author Anthony Thornton describes as The Jam soundtracking a late Carry On movie in a suitably saucy, British seaside-postcard kind of way. Up The Bracketbalanced thrilling bluntness with an astute grasp of what had gone before.

Though it reached only No. 35 in the UK album charts upon its release in October 2002, The Libertines growing ubiquity in the press would see its sales rise as the decade progressed. The bands next two records featured delicacies of their own but its across Up The Brackets 12 songs that The Libertines skirted true greatness, even if it was always slightly out of reach.

Up the Bracket was the wake-up call that many of the soon-to-be players in what was called the indie renaissance by some and indie landfill by others desperately needed. Now established as The Libertines central text, Up The Bracket remains a rousing listen 20 years on.

The Libertines. Image: Stuart Mostyn / Redfferns

The Libertines, Up the Bracket(Rough Trade, 2002)

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The Genius Of Up the Bracket by The Libertines - Guitar.com