Pete Doherty has had his fair share of doubters in recent years. Yet this is the man, as one half of the most influential (although short lived) songwriting duo since Morrissey and Marr. Since then it seems many have given up on the former Libertine, a wasted talent to busy living the celebrity life to make a good record. Whether Doherty has kicked the habit for good or not remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: if Shotters Nation fails to silence his critics then they can’t really be listening.
It gets off to a great start with ‘Carry On Up The Morning’ with a typical, but no less effective Doherty guitar lick, with the catchy chorus “It’s not easy, gettin’ outta bed, it wasn’t easy getting you out of my head” where the vocals trade between Doherty and Michael Whitnall just like they did with Carl Barat in his previous outfit. Is it a song about Kate Moss or facing the media?
Lead single ‘Delivery’ is the best Babyshambles single to date which demonstrates the influence of another great British songwriting duo – Ray and Dave Davies- on the songwriter.
Doherty’s ex, Moss is credited as co-writer on four of the tracks here, two of which; ‘You Talk’ and ‘Deft Left Hand’, happen to be the weakest on the record.
Unbilotitled starts off slow until a whistling coda adds life to the record while ‘Side of the Road’ begins like ‘Sunny Afternoon’ and ends up sounding like Buzzcocks.
‘There She Goes’ takes the record into jazz territory, something that shouldn’t seem so much of a shock to dedicated followers of the songwriter. It’s not too far off from The Cure’s ‘Love Cats’ but with more improvisation.
It’s followed by ‘Baddies Boogie’ which is less of one than the previous song is perhaps the only song that isn’t actually about Doherty’s life (although perhaps a relative or friend) and never has he sounded so aggressive as he snarls “It’s a lousy life for the wife of a permanently plastered, pissed up bastard” and one of many reminders on this record of what a fine songwriter he is.
It finishes with ‘The Lost Art of Murder’, featuring Bert Jansch on guitar which is interesting; to hear 2 very distinguishable guitar styles from different generations playing on the same song. Jansch has brought himself to the attention of a younger audience by working with musicians of today so hearing him here shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s the perfect way to close the album.
No, it’s not quite as good as The Libertines but definitely one of the finest albums of 2007.
