If you love The Libertines of 20 years ago and your heart does not start pounding faster during the verse melody of "Run Run Run" (which did not impress me as a single but which is a perfect opener for this album), you are simply lying to yourself. Because this is it, plain and simple, the best album by The Libertines since Up The Bracket. 22 years, too. No small thing.
It is easy to sense how much craft and thought went into making this album. That said, it never feels overwrought, overbearing or overproduced. When they do the Swan Lake sample in the beautiful "Night of the Hunter", they sound clever rather than pretentious.
To me, the pleasant surprise is definitely Carl Barât. While Peter Doherty never really lost it, Barât has done nothing of note in years. Well, he sounds completely rejuvenated here, and gives us tough, terrific rockers "Run Run Run", "Oh Shit" and (to a slightly lesser extent) the reggae-fied "Be Young". Brilliant hooks, great energy. Best of all is the swaggering "Mustangs" that features quirky lyrics and a truly cathartic coda.
Doherty is in good form, too (I'm actually in the small minority that enjoyed the pastoral delights of his 2022 album The Fantasy Life of Poetry & Crime). Regardless of its Libertines-by-numbers title, "Merry Old England" is a lovely melodic ode to Britain, "I Have A Friend" is a brilliant rush of energy and the old outtake "Songs They Never Play On The Radio" wraps things up nicely, with a wistful tune and a few giggles.
Only the fragile, folksy "Baron's Claw" and the aforementioned "Be Young" miss the mark slightly. Everything else is tight, engaging, tastefully ragged and filled with great songwriting. If you were looking for something else, you should not have bothered with The Libertines in the first place.
