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The Libertines appear to have become more of a soap opera than a band recently, what with tabloid tales of Pete Doherty's "Drug Hell" seemingly appearing every other week in the newspapers. Thankfully, with the imminent release of their second album, the focus can switch back to something that's often overlooked - the music.
Can't Stand Me Now is the lead single from the much anticipated follow up to Up The Bracket and is just sublime. Doherty and Carl Barat alternate vocals with some painfully personal lyrics ("you shut me up, and blamed it on the brown, cornered the boy, kicked out at the world, the world kicked back a lot f**king harder now"), while musically they're better than ever. Former Clash guitarist Mick Jones produces again, and this is as wildly exhilarating as anything his former band produced.
If, as seems increasingly likely, this is to be The Libertines' swansong then they appear to be splitting at their peak. Fingers crossed that Doherty can sort out his many problems, for it would be truly tragic if a man with this much talent ended up as just another dead junkie.
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