#not technically its birthday anymore bc of timezones !! yaaaay

[waterloo-to-anywhere]

i don't think self-titled has ever been a consistent album for me. there's something so sad about the way it was made, never given time and care in the studio, never properly toured, always reflected on with difficulty and a certain amount of bitterness. self-titled was made during a time where none of its creators were happy, and the cracks show up in the music itself. it's not Up the Bracket, where arguably every track is a flash of brilliance, that incredible storm-in-a-bottle sort of album. self-titled peaks at ridiculous heights, then careens into the ground on the very next track. and it does that, over and over again.

but here's the thing:

i will always take the album with the higher highs over the more consistent one. it's a personal preference, but i find these imperfect albums so interesting, so colourful and vibrant with all their flaws. in a way, with all the highs and the lows one could say, i feel like self-titled might be their album that feels closest to the sea voyage that they seem so fond of. and without that captivating, magnetic album cover, i don't think i would have ever wanted to know more about the band. so i owe it that, at the very least.

with this one, i'll always remember reading some johnny borrell (may i never need to mention that name again) quote about how 'up the bracket had some real masterpieces, but they got too self-referential with this one, it's too much about them.' he's not alone in thinking this - it's a common viewpoint, one that seems to be held by many who think that they have 'only one good album'.

they're so, so, wrong though.

all i can think is, how can you not understand? if it was any other band, then maybe, but haven't the libertines been about the self-mythologizing, the capital R Romance, the self-referential storytelling, from the very start? who are they if not these fame-hungry chancers that lie too much for their own good and make you feel like the world might actually be an interesting place? you step onto their good ship albion, and they graciously offer you a part of their world, with a startling amount of openness. their world. their stories.

because self-titled is them, it's their story in all its pain and anguish and raw beauty, and that's the whole point. it's not a perfect album, but then again i've never been drawn to a perfect story.

happy birthday to The Libertines. i love you so, so much.