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Album Of The Day: Babyshambles - Sequel To The Prequel
Indie | Thursday 5th September 2013 | Billy
“I don’t want this to be half arsed, I wanna get up there and really fucking smash it” Doherty stated prior to the recording of Babyshambles third studio album Prequel to the Sequel.
8 Years on from their scruffy and rebellious debut Down In Albion, Doherty and Co. have shown that they’re a far cry from the band that was led by a frontman who in the same year was arrested on four occasions.
Long gone are the days of a disheveled Pete reeling over the demise of former band The Libertines whilst struggling with an ever present drug habit that looked set to see him not make 30 years of age – well at least in the studio that seems. Unlike its predecessors, this new album shows a side of Pete and bassist Drew McConnell that we have not yet seen with a certain buoyant manner accompanied by tidy melodic acoustics.
Whether you believe that he’s something of a Shakespearian reincarnation found in the form of a Camden bound waster or just a scruffy crack addict close to delusion, you cannot help but be compelled by his story and distinctive way of viewing the world. I personally find it astonishing how someone can dance so merrily yet so dangerously close to oblivion; flirting with life and death whilst entwined by a hurricane of love, hate, abandon and confusion; yet the outcome of all this is something to be much-admired.
The difference with this album is that unfortunate circumstances that have shrouded the band of late have had a positive impact on their outlook on life – for both Drew and Peter. With bassist Drew recently recovering from a life threatening motor accident, it is a credit to him that the product of such adversity was the determination to string the band together into the studio for a third time.
However, for all the chipper tones and hatful of cheerful notations to take away from this album, in parts it lacks the personality, authenticity and irony that is the epitome of Doherty’s brilliance. Why take a man that has experienced almost every psychological trouble and trauma that one can bear and make him produce an album which in large areas is a basic blueprint for any average hum-drum Indie band.
The one thing that makes Doherty so great is the way that he can encapsulate pain, life and irony in such a flawless manner. Such wit, that produced anthemic punk records like self titled The Libertines album, is missing and watered down and as a band, not to play to Doherty’s strengths was a very risqué move that I’m afraid hasn’t paid off in the most part. However, I believe this was heavily influenced by the bands decision to work with Steven Street, in booking a producer who has worked with The Courteeners, Viva Brother and Ordinary Boys fundamentally sent this album on a one way track to ‘Indieville’.
First single of the album ‘Nothing Comes to Nothing’ which is the second track on the album shows potential but doesn’t quite reach the heights of what the band are capable of and although it is a nice tune to nod your head along to it’s light-years away from Pete’s peak. As is the story with similar tracks ‘New Pair’ and ‘Farmers Daughter’.
But at the same token there are some truly great songs on this album, in ‘Fall from Grace’ Pete manages to be confessional whilst clouded by uncertainty. ‘Prequel to the Sequel’ offers up the ever present British-ness that rubs off with Pete’s music, ‘Dr. No’ is a great take on Ska and the penultimate track ‘Seven Shades Of Nothing’ plays on Pete’s struggle with addiction as Drew writes ‘Give it up/ Give it up/ Give it up/ Are you trying to say this world is not beautiful enough?’
Ultimately, I am undecided on this album as it shows both sparks of Pete’s brilliance in one track only for that very spark to be watered down in the next. It’s not an album that has reached the level of potential that it could have considering all the components but nevertheless, this album is well worth a listen as everyone could draw such contrasting conclusions from Prequel To The Sequel.
I’ll leave you with this to chew on; The Babyshambles once said they’d “keep the Arcadian dream alive”.
Oh what became of the likely lads? I’m not too sure if a grown up and mature Doherty fits.
Verdict: 6.5/10
Billy Thomas
Twitter: @BillyThomas95
