Babyshambles
KILLAMANGIRO
(Rough Trade Records 25/11/04)

Just when you think he is about to disappear in a cloud of white smoke like a black magician; what does he go and do? But produce a thoughtful and poignant dark number that epitomized The Libertines debut album’s tantalizingly tuneful forays into murky underworld. Pete Doherty has answered his critics with support from a tight band; Babyshambles that is more than Pete’s side project; it is his therapy. Autobiographical lyrics lash out at critics and stab at the heart of society and normality;

“Why would you pay to see me in a cage?

And why would you pay to see me in a cage?

Some men call a stage.”

Killamangiro is in essence the first general release for Babyshambles and therefore the nations’ first taste of the renewed vigour that Pete has managed to find from the depths of tragedy, his critics keep plunging him into. He is like a Dostoevsky character in his stoic resistance to the norms of society and the music industry. Of course purists will point out that the riffs are one dimensional and Pete’s voice is getting slightly coarser, but for many that is overshadowed by the heartfelt emotion and poignancy of the track. ‘The Man Who Came To Stay’ sees Doherty adding a tender touch to proceedings, thus implying there is depth beneath the murky and angry exterior of this project.

www.roughtraderecords.com

David Adair