Library Rock's Backpages

The Libertines: Anthems for Doomed Youth

Alfred Soto, Spin, 15 September 2015

NOW THAT CARL BARÂT AND PETE DOHERTY have proven they are capable of collaborating again, they can go away and write a better album than Anthems for Doomed Youth. Eleven years after an eponymous record that presaged a series of ignominious public meltdowns, the Libertines have assembled a collection of solid tunes, three quarters of which boast hooks stuck into unsurprising rock arrangements. Anticipating the collapse gave their early-'00s albums their tension; now the former likely lads want to convince their audience that there's a point to adult songwriting. "Don't know if I can go on / Making no sense in song," Barât and Doherty sing in 'Belly of the Beast'. Anthems for Doomed Youth acknowledges that they can't, which is the problem.

Total word count of piece: 414

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.