The Libertines re-energised a flailing UK music scene back in 2002 when they released their debut single, What a Waster. In no particular order, the ensuing years for the band included: prison, a handful of generation defining anthems, rehab, a sharp increase in the sale of military tunics, break-ups, punch-ups, reformations, the release of one seminal album (Up the Bracket), supermodels, side-projects, mockney accents, a slew of poor imitations, and enough stories to fill the NME gossip columns for years. Whatever you think of them, they definitely left a legacy.
As Pete said himself: “It's like they say: Oasis is the sound of a council estate singing its heart out, and the Libertines is the sound of someone just put in the rubbish chute at the back of the estate, trying to work out what day it was."
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- Tom Roper
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