Waterloo To Anywhere

Alexis Petridis right on the money with regard to Carl Barat's remarkable show of dignity in the face of his former bandmate's insistence on behaving like a "ninny", as he puts it. It's hard not to root for Dirty Pretty Things, in the circumstances.

Quite right as well to rubbish the idea that Doherty was the principle creative force behind The Libertines - it's a pleasure to hear the swagger and gin-stagger of that marvelous Django Reinhardt-plays-skiffle guitar again, recognisable anywhere. Thinking back to it, some of The Libertines finest moments - "Death On The Stairs", "7 Deadly Sins", "The Delaney" and "I Get Along", of course - could be called Barat songs, if that weren't simply stooping to the same glory hunting that pulled the pair apart in the first place.

Anyway, this is a lot more rewarding than Babyshambles with the highs delivered by "Deadwood", "Doctors & Dealers", Bang Bang...", "The Gentry Cove" and "B.U.R.M.A." The latter shows a good dose of old fashioned romance in this record as well, proving that Barat, at least, loves somebody other than himself. It's released next week.