Post by Fuggle on Aug 3, 2006 10:05:38 GMT -5
Finally facing their 'Waterloo'
Carl Barat and his Dirty Pretty Things get grubby
Originally published on July 30, 2006
On the first CD from Dirty Pretty Things, scoundrels scurry around every corner.
Drug dealers, crooked doctors and hopeless addicts cavort and exploit, leaving a path of destruction for themselves, a host of crushing burdens for others and no small amount of sick merriment for those cackling on the sidelines.
Gee, wonder what all this could possibly refer to?
As aficionados know, the frontman of Dirty Pretty Things is none other than Carl Barat, the other guy in the Libertines, that smash English punk band that groaned under the weight of its leader Pete Doherty's demented escapades for far too long.
Over the Libertines' densely strange two-year history, Doherty established himself as rock's most accomplished, and relentless, drug addict since Sid Vicious.
But if you ask Barat if his sordid lyrics on the band's "Waterloo to Anywhere" (out Aug. 8) make passing reference to anyone we know, he turns cryptic.
"I knew people would say the lyrics were about Pete before I even started writing them," he explains. "But I intentionally didn't write about anything specific."
"I'm saving all that for the autobiography," he jokes.
On the other hand, Barat allows that "obviously the elements of my life in the immediate past govern how I view things."
And that view has been as hellish as it comes. When Doherty's habitual arrests, no-shows and selfish acts (including stealing equipment from his fellow musicians) became unbearable in 2004, the band threw out their leader once and for all.
At the same time, they had international tour commitments and a new album of wonderful songs all set to play. So Barat and the other two band members (drummer Gary Powell and bassist John Hassall) added a second guitarist (Anthony Rossomando) and carried on for a time under the Libertines' banner.
The altered configuration wasn't that hard a sell for true fans. Barat had co-written all the Libertines' songs, and he possesses just as stridently thrilling a voice as Doherty. To boot, he's better looking.
The near-Libertines' tour lasted six months, until the end of '04, at which point Barat thought things had finally died down enough to take a break.
He thought wrong.
Right after New Year's, things kicked into hairy overdrive. In January of '05, one of the bigger scandals of that year broke when Doherty's girlfriend, model Kate Moss, was photographed allegedly snorting cocaine in the musician's studio. Barat and his bandmates refused to take part in the media pile-on that followed, but the singer says various quotes from him turned up in the media, anyway. "The British press - they make things up, you know," he says wryly.
In truth, Barat spent his time laying low and writing songs. He played the first two, "Bang Bang You're Dead" and "Deadwood," for his friend Didz Hammond, one-time bassist for Cooper Temple Clause. The pair had become confidants during the scandals. So it made sense that Barat asked him to join the new band he was forming. The two rounded out the group with the Libertines' original drummer, Powell, and the band's substitute guitarist, Rossomando.
Small wonder their album sounds like it could easily be the third Libertines CD. With the two guitars clawing at each other, as the pointy bass lines jab and the drums swell, the result is a big brawl of sound. It has the thrill and threat of a choreographed fight. "It's all about capturing the moment," Barat explains. "It helps if you don't take too much time in the recording."
In fact, the band recorded "Waterloo" in two quick segments with a pair of producers: an American, Dave Sardy, in L.A., and a Brit, Tony Doogan, in Glasgow. "Sardy is a superproducer, so we could only afford to do half the work with him," Barat explains. "Doogan is cheap."
Believe it or not, Barat says the group didn't take its name from the famous cult movie of the same name. "It comes from a club in London where that [phrase] describes the clientele," he explains. "I actually do possess a copy of the movie, but I feel like it would be a jinx to watch it. It might be s-."
Once the album comes out, few people will worry about the band's name. They'll spend more time poring over Barat's lyrics, which should have the same appeal for gossip columnists that chum does for sharks. In the opening cut, "Deadwood," Barat sings, "You got the world boy/This all you make it?/You had the choice lad/You wouldn't take it."
In "Bang Bang You're Dead" he sneers, "Oh, what did you expect? . . . to lay it all upon my head?"
However accusatory many of the lyrics may be - and however clearly they refer to a Doherty-like figure -Barat says the pair have actually made up. While the two haven't seen each other in some time, they talk occasionally by phone. "It's better now because whatever he does isn't affecting me," Barat expresses. "And we each have our own bands." (For nearly two years, Doherty has been fronting the ambling act Babyshambles.)
Despite all the controversy, Barat says he and Doherty are "still very much friends, in a soulmate way."
But obviously, it's Barat's greatest wish that Dirty Pretty Things finally gets him out from under the Libertines' long, dark shadow. "We worked very hard to have a clean slate," he says. "Finally, I'm starting to feel free of the past."
Carl Barat and his Dirty Pretty Things get grubby
Originally published on July 30, 2006
On the first CD from Dirty Pretty Things, scoundrels scurry around every corner.
Drug dealers, crooked doctors and hopeless addicts cavort and exploit, leaving a path of destruction for themselves, a host of crushing burdens for others and no small amount of sick merriment for those cackling on the sidelines.
Gee, wonder what all this could possibly refer to?
As aficionados know, the frontman of Dirty Pretty Things is none other than Carl Barat, the other guy in the Libertines, that smash English punk band that groaned under the weight of its leader Pete Doherty's demented escapades for far too long.
Over the Libertines' densely strange two-year history, Doherty established himself as rock's most accomplished, and relentless, drug addict since Sid Vicious.
But if you ask Barat if his sordid lyrics on the band's "Waterloo to Anywhere" (out Aug. 8) make passing reference to anyone we know, he turns cryptic.
"I knew people would say the lyrics were about Pete before I even started writing them," he explains. "But I intentionally didn't write about anything specific."
"I'm saving all that for the autobiography," he jokes.
On the other hand, Barat allows that "obviously the elements of my life in the immediate past govern how I view things."
And that view has been as hellish as it comes. When Doherty's habitual arrests, no-shows and selfish acts (including stealing equipment from his fellow musicians) became unbearable in 2004, the band threw out their leader once and for all.
At the same time, they had international tour commitments and a new album of wonderful songs all set to play. So Barat and the other two band members (drummer Gary Powell and bassist John Hassall) added a second guitarist (Anthony Rossomando) and carried on for a time under the Libertines' banner.
The altered configuration wasn't that hard a sell for true fans. Barat had co-written all the Libertines' songs, and he possesses just as stridently thrilling a voice as Doherty. To boot, he's better looking.
The near-Libertines' tour lasted six months, until the end of '04, at which point Barat thought things had finally died down enough to take a break.
He thought wrong.
Right after New Year's, things kicked into hairy overdrive. In January of '05, one of the bigger scandals of that year broke when Doherty's girlfriend, model Kate Moss, was photographed allegedly snorting cocaine in the musician's studio. Barat and his bandmates refused to take part in the media pile-on that followed, but the singer says various quotes from him turned up in the media, anyway. "The British press - they make things up, you know," he says wryly.
In truth, Barat spent his time laying low and writing songs. He played the first two, "Bang Bang You're Dead" and "Deadwood," for his friend Didz Hammond, one-time bassist for Cooper Temple Clause. The pair had become confidants during the scandals. So it made sense that Barat asked him to join the new band he was forming. The two rounded out the group with the Libertines' original drummer, Powell, and the band's substitute guitarist, Rossomando.
Small wonder their album sounds like it could easily be the third Libertines CD. With the two guitars clawing at each other, as the pointy bass lines jab and the drums swell, the result is a big brawl of sound. It has the thrill and threat of a choreographed fight. "It's all about capturing the moment," Barat explains. "It helps if you don't take too much time in the recording."
In fact, the band recorded "Waterloo" in two quick segments with a pair of producers: an American, Dave Sardy, in L.A., and a Brit, Tony Doogan, in Glasgow. "Sardy is a superproducer, so we could only afford to do half the work with him," Barat explains. "Doogan is cheap."
Believe it or not, Barat says the group didn't take its name from the famous cult movie of the same name. "It comes from a club in London where that [phrase] describes the clientele," he explains. "I actually do possess a copy of the movie, but I feel like it would be a jinx to watch it. It might be s-."
Once the album comes out, few people will worry about the band's name. They'll spend more time poring over Barat's lyrics, which should have the same appeal for gossip columnists that chum does for sharks. In the opening cut, "Deadwood," Barat sings, "You got the world boy/This all you make it?/You had the choice lad/You wouldn't take it."
In "Bang Bang You're Dead" he sneers, "Oh, what did you expect? . . . to lay it all upon my head?"
However accusatory many of the lyrics may be - and however clearly they refer to a Doherty-like figure -Barat says the pair have actually made up. While the two haven't seen each other in some time, they talk occasionally by phone. "It's better now because whatever he does isn't affecting me," Barat expresses. "And we each have our own bands." (For nearly two years, Doherty has been fronting the ambling act Babyshambles.)
Despite all the controversy, Barat says he and Doherty are "still very much friends, in a soulmate way."
But obviously, it's Barat's greatest wish that Dirty Pretty Things finally gets him out from under the Libertines' long, dark shadow. "We worked very hard to have a clean slate," he says. "Finally, I'm starting to feel free of the past."