(Morning Star, Saturday 12 November 2005)
ALBUM: Babyshambles - Down in Albion
(Rough Trade)
THE travelling circus of Pete Doherty and his band of merry men is something to behold. The true essence of punk, they thrash out their anthems for doomed youth with the passion and fervour of the hopeless and looking every bit the urchins.
Playing live, Babyshambles really are a sight - vivacious and thrilling - and the enjoyment of the crowd is evident.
But not so on record. The name "shambles" has never been more appropriate.
The band shuffle into the studio and make a few grunts into the mic, hoping that this constitutes a proper, grown-up album, but they didn't bet on one thing - the expectations for this, the new project from a founding member of one of Britain's most important bands of the last decade, are way too high for the boys to be able to get away with this kind of shiftless, amateur work.
The singles from Down in Albion, Fuck Forever and Killamangiro showcase the work of a much better band, one lurking just beneath the layers of apathy and self-absorption.
But, instead of fulfilling this early promise, this album reeks of "that'll do" and, between the dull The 32nd of December and tremendously tacky Pipedown - as in "put the pipe down" - Doherty's reggae ode to Pentonville prison is a desperate attempt to add credibility.
As the first recorded long-playing effort from Babyshambles, Down in Albion is nothing more than a junkie joke. And Doherty, inevitably, is the punchline.
