Babyshambles Shotter's Nation Review

Behind the notorious caricature of the frontman in the red tops, can Babyshambles actually churn out some good tunes?

Pete and Co take you on a lamenting, lethargically sung journey through Doherty’s demons via a music catalogue which rips off/pays tribute – however you want to put it – to the Kinks’, “You Really Got Me” (“Delivery”), The Cure’s, “Love Cats” (“There She Goes”) all the way through The Stone Roses (“Crumb Begging Baghead”), punk (“Side Of The Road”) Happy Mondays/Smiths/ska and even Brit pop with Blur/Morrissey producer, Stephen Street, at the helm of the good ship Babyshambles.

Pete as confessional storyteller delivers lyrically about what he knows best with Kate, love, crack, losing yourself, murky England, crack, the fame game, tabloids and er … crack being the obvious calls.

Pete’s hooked in “There She Goes”, as he sings: ‘When you came through my door/ and from your bag/you pulled out more skag than I’d ever seen/No! how could I let go?’ He contemplates cleaning up in “Lost Art Of Murder”: ‘Get up off your back/Stop smoking that/If you change your life/Do you think they’ll change their minds...’

But drugs aside, the tracks venture in to unexpectedly tightly executed rhythms and guitar melodies, which translate to universal tales of hapless relationships. Take “Baddie’s Boogie”, sympathizing with a washed up wife with her drunk of a husband and the even quite beautiful “Deft Left Hand” with our protaganist crying, ‘I will lay down and die if I can’t lie by your side’.

A sporadically compelling album with a dirty charm of its own, Babyshambles have upped the stakes since their poorly received 2005, Down In Albion but then that was never going be hard, was it?