Pete Doherty did his best to deglamorize the myth of the poetic, glamorously wasted rock star with boringly bad behavior -- and, even worse, boring music. Babyshambles' debut, Down in Albion, was mostly a mess with a few moments of stranded brilliance, while The Blinding was a little more focused, but still lackluster. At this point, the only really shocking thing Doherty and the rest of Babyshambles could do would be to release some consistently good music. Darned if they didn't with Shotter's Nation, an album that shows that Babyshambles have learned from their stumbling baby steps. It doesn't outstay its welcome, as there are no detours into pointless reggae, and best of all, the band sounds like it's having fun -- much more fun, in fact, than when Doherty and crew sounded like they were three sheets to the wind while making Down in Albion. Doherty sounds more mischievous than self-destructive on these songs, and he's infinitely more appealing as a cheeky, brazen storyteller than a despondent junkie. "Baddie's Boogie," a sunny, strummy tale of a crumbling marriage, is one of his most sharply written and sung songs since his Libertines days; on "Deft Left Hand," he rattles off bon mots like "Went from cheery vagabondage to cold-blooded luxury in four years" effortlessly.
The rest of the band, and the rest of Shotter's Nation, follows Doherty's clearer-eyed lead. Without a doubt, this is the most produced music of his career: "Carry on Up the Morning" opens with ragged riffs and clamoring drums, but soon resolves itself into something significantly more polished, but the cleaner surroundings suit these songs well. There's just enough grit to bring excitement to roller coaster rockers like "Side of the Road" and "Delivery" (one of Shotter's Nation's few brooding moments), but not so much that they sound like they've been wallowing in the gutter. The band's more pulled-together sound works even better on the album's flights of fancy. Doherty indulges his love of cabaret on "There She Goes" and "French Dog Blues" (which was co-written by Doherty, Ian Brown, and Kate Moss), and the results are charming -- a word that didn't apply to him or his music in quite a while. "Unstookie Titled" could even be called sophisticated; its droning guitars and subtle tension and release, not to mention its clever allusion to "Fuck Forever"'s verse melody, moves Babyshambles' sound forward in a natural but intriguing way. Despite a few songs that lag a bit, this is easily Babyshambles' best work yet. Maybe that's not setting the bar incredibly high, especially compared to Doherty's Libertines work, but it's still a big step in the right direction. A small but very enjoyable triumph, Shotter's Nation suggests that there is still hope for Doherty's music to evolve past the live-fast, die-young ideal.
"Hey, I've got an even older one!" the lady who scans my ticket yells to her colleagues. Yeah sugar, that's because I've been hanging on to the ticket since two-thousand and fucking six. The year Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd died, the year Italy became World Champions soccer, and also the year pop venue Effenaar expected The Babyshambles to perform. But after three cancellations, last Tuesday- in ...
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BabyshamblesShotter's Nation7 out of 10 If the saying goes "there's no such thing as bad press," then the name Babyshambles ( notoriously led by Pete Doherty) should immediately precede that quote. It's hard to ignore headlines that read "Doherty arrested for assaulting 22-year old photographer" and "Doherty charged with seven counts of drug possession." But beneath all the controversy (and b...
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Wow! I am so enjoying the new Babyshambles record "Shotter's Nation!" Pete and the boys went into the studio with producer Stephen Street and put together a tight well written, well played and amazingly well performed LP. Get ready to hear Pete sing in tune!The songs borrow riffs and style from all over the realm of Brit Pop yet Doherty and the band are ably steered by Street in delivering a...
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Lots of good songs on this record. Find myself humming many of them all day long. Here's another:
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Babyshambles have announced the US release date of their forthcoming sophomore album ??Shotter's Nation?? (Parlophone). The album will be release in the US on October 23 via Astralwerks. The album is the follow-up to 2005's ??Down In Albion??.??Shotter's Nation?? features the single Delivery, which has been parlayed into a video (below). Directing credits goto Douglas Hart, original bassist and...
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Babyshambles's new black and white promo video features Pete Doherty walking the streets of London in clean clothes, unaided, and without the accompaniment of a policeman. Well, who said these things have to be realistic? Not that the video, for new single Delivery, shies away from truth. At several points Doherty is nowhere to be seen as his Babyshambles band-mates prepare to go on stage. Adm...
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"Hey, I've got an even older one!" the lady who scans my ticket yells to her colleagues. Yeah sugar, that's because I've been hanging on to the ticket since two-thousand and fucking six. The year Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd died, the year Italy became World Champions soccer, and also the year pop venue Effenaar expected The Babyshambles to perform. But after three cancellations, last Tuesday- in ...
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Since BabyShambles' new video 'French Dog Blues" features animated caricatures of Pete Doherty, sketched as wasted, derelect, and depressed as usual, it aptly garnered the attention of Pitchfork. (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/45920-babyshambles-french-dog-blues). No worries there, one of the main intents of my good friend Ron Winter, who animated the video, was make him look as t...
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BabyshamblesShotter's Nation7 out of 10 If the saying goes "there's no such thing as bad press," then the name Babyshambles ( notoriously led by Pete Doherty) should immediately precede that quote. It's hard to ignore headlines that read "Doherty arrested for assaulting 22-year old photographer" and "Doherty charged with seven counts of drug possession." But beneath all the controversy (and b...
More >
The new Babyshambles video is out today. "French Dog Blues" is from Shotter's Nation which is already out in UK but doesn't hit US stores until October 23rd. Babyshambles - "French Dog Blues"French Dog Blues New Babyshambles Clip Shotters NationUploaded by Blackorpheus
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The BBC's Zane Lowe interviewed Babyshambles members Pete Doherty and Adam Ficek, last Tuesday (Oct. 16) and are offering the broadcast online as a stream.To listen to Zane's entire broadcast, or to jump directly to the interview, "CLICK HERE - BBC RADIO 1":CHZane spearheads the interview with a question for Pete Doherty about his recent jaunt in rehab. The frontman reluctantly, but politely an...
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Wow! I am so enjoying the new Babyshambles record "Shotter's Nation!" Pete and the boys went into the studio with producer Stephen Street and put together a tight well written, well played and amazingly well performed LP. Get ready to hear Pete sing in tune!The songs borrow riffs and style from all over the realm of Brit Pop yet Doherty and the band are ably steered by Street in delivering a...
More >
Lots of good songs on this record. Find myself humming many of them all day long. Here's another:
More >
This is a small introduction as I am new to MOG.My name is Chris and I am the sole contributor to Indiescreet. That means I'm the boss, the tea boy, the bosses bitch and the person who hates the boss all rolled into one.Over at Indiescreet I try and introduce new talent to your ears. Bands I promote can, i guess, be classed as indie rock usually, they are also often from the UK but I try and gi...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Carry on Up the Morning |
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| 2 Delivery |
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| 3 You Talk |
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| 4 Unbilotitled |
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| 5 Side of the Road |
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| 6 Crumb Begging Baghead |
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| 7 Unstookie Titled |
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| 8 French Dog Blues |
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| 9 There She Goes |
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| 10 Baddie's Boogie |
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| 11 Deft Left Hand |
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| 12 Lost Art of Murder |
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| 13 [CD-Rom Track] |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Shotter's Nation")
