pretend they have no influences, with ‘Don’t be Shy’, you could almost be transported to a dirty back street club in Hamburg with the first stage Beatles doing their stuff on a tiny stage. The man who would be king; a complete turn up for the books! Is this The Libertines almost sounding like Dire Straits? I think it might well be…’The man who would be king’ has those dramatic symbols contrasted with that calm and regular sensuality which is so reflective of the new stage in the band’s musical prowess. Temptations of acid jazz also run through incredibly catchy track and let’s be fair you can’t go wrong with lyrics like, “la, la, la, la, la…” Music when the lights go out is a beautiful mainly acoustic track that builds to a tone wealthy sound still managing to perfectly to retain its sincerity and navet. A great track that should really be kept on the album for the privileged people that buy it. Moving on to a more traditional Libertines sound, ‘The Ha Ha Wall’ is riff led with led with drop rhythms all over the place. I love this track, it’s discords add so much to its rockability; a real club track. Arbeit Macht Frei is definitely the hardest, most raw track on the album that shouts traditional punk as soon as you wack it on. Entirely keeping with the freedom of speech, rights of man themes that punk is often synonymous with ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ is short but by no means sweet! ‘What Katie Did’, no, you aren’t listening to ‘Runaround Sue’ by Dion, but you would be forgiven for thinking so. ‘What Katie Did’ is such a brilliant retro sounding track, but just as ‘Don’t be shy’ does it takes a theme and twists it up to create a truly brilliant record. ‘The Libertines’ is so well deserved of all the hype that has surrounded it and really does get better with every listen, this is a must for any self-respecting music fan …it’s history in the making. 8/10 Jemma Volp-Fletcher | 
