Album: Babyshambles

Shotter's Nation (Parlophone)

Like Annie Lennox, Babyshambles have switched producers for the follow-up to Down In Albion, replacing Mick Jones with indie-pop specialist Stephen Street; and though not as blandly MOR-oriented, the result is a similar smoothing-out of the band's sound, the edgy clangour of their debut giving way to more straightforward performances. That might have something to do with Mick Whitnall's assumption of guitar duties – the closest he and Pete Doherty get to the splintery guitar style of Patrick Walden is on "Side of the Road"; otherwise, the sound is relatively polite, whether they're essaying the drab, bluesy style of "Crumb Begging" or the light, jazzy shuffle of "There She Goes". An obvious standout, its loping bass and neat guitar support a typically disillusioned Doherty lyric. Elsewhere, he bridles at parasite hangers-on ("UnBilo Titled"), and at the way his shame has become public property ("UnStookie Titled"). But the catchy single "Delivery" and thoughtful "The Lost Art of Murder" may be Doherty's best songs yet.

Download this:

'Delivery', 'The Lost Art of Murder', 'There She Goes'

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Please enter a valid email
Please enter a valid email
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Please enter your first name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
Please enter your last name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
You must be over 18 years old to register
You must be over 18 years old to register
Opt-out-policy
You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe.

By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Join our new commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in