Libertines, Up The Bracket.

(Rough Trade)

Produced by ex-Clash Mick Jones, Up The Bracket bristles with precocious licks, some well-crafted melodies, a larder full of La's attitude, and just enough bare bones originality to be intriguing. The songs are time-honored British political/class invective, perhaps what attracted Jones to the band to begin with. No lost love anguish or angst filled uncertainty for these lads--no, siree. In fact they sound an awful lot like the early Clash, at least Jones's version: the polemic lacks Joe Strummer's fury, his utter disdain for the polite repression the British pass off for constitutional equality. The music is raw enough to capture what the Libertines must have sounded like a year or so ago in their mums' basements. This is a good thing. Jones has wisely chosen not to over-produce them. Eventually, their sound will become more polished, like the Clash's, and at that point one may expect them to make a bigger ripple in the pool. The material, a whole lot of it, is there.