Customer Reviews

Waterloo to Anywhere

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The track listing for this album is:

1. "Deadwood" - 2:28
2. "Doctors and Dealers" - 3:18
3. "Bang Bang You're Dead" - 3:33
4. "Blood Thirsty B*stards" - 3:11
5. "The Gentry Cove" - 2:32
6. "Gin & Milk" - 3:06
7. "The Enemy" - 3:36
8. "If You Love a Woman" - 3:13
9. "You F*cking Love It" - 1:54
10. "Wondering" - 2:54
11. "Last of the Small Town Playboys" - 3:31
12. "B.U.R.M.A" - 3:18
(Song titles edited by me)

The first single from the group's debut album is "Bang Bang You're Dead", a catchy Britpop track which sounds eerily like Herman's Hermits or even the Beatles at times. The lyrics are very simple and repetitive, which of course ensures that the song sticks in your head. If you don't believe me check the chorus which goes "Bang bang you're dead / Oh I'm so easily lead / Bang bang you're dead / Put all the rumours to bed / Bang bang you're dead"

Second single "Deadwood" is a very short track that leads off the album, a guitar driven track showcasing the talent of Carl Barat, formerly of The Libertines and now front man for Dirty Pretty Things on this debut album. The third single is intended to be the track "Wondering".


Other tracks worth mentioning are "Doctors and Dealers"; "The Gentry Cove" (which sounds like it should accompany a Monty Python movie) and "Gin & Milk", but unfortunately too many of the tracks sound alike to make this album outstanding.

This is an import with twelve tracks, with the US version due to be released on August 8, 2006. The US album is almost half the price of this version, but only has 11 tracks. (The last track B.U.R.M.A. didn't make it) However, given the price difference it's worth waiting for the US version.


Amanda Richards, August 4, 2006

The Libertines burned bright... and then burned out, when uberjunkie Pete Doherty got kicked out for assorted bad behavior. And from the ashes came two bands, one of which is Carl Barat's new band, Dirty Pretty Things.

Well, it's not exactly a pheonix. Fortunately, the debut "Waterloo to Anywhere" proves that this no Babyshambles -- Barat turns out some wonderfully grimy, raw punk music, reminiscent of the Raveonettes with a blurry Britpop edge. And they even turn up for work on time.

It opens with a solid opener -- the blurry, bizarre "Deadwood," which has cheery vocals and a sort of ominous edge. "You got the world boy/This all you make it?/You had the choice lad/You wouldnt take it," Barat croons cheerfully over a powerful guitar riff. "And what will you do/When they forget your name?"

Well, every artist needs a message song or two, and this seems to be Barat burying his band demons.

With that catchy punk tune as the opener, Dirty Pretty Things rock out with unpretentious gusto in raw tunes like "Gin and Milk," power chords that stretch out into lazy drones, frenetic wild noise ("You f***in love it!") rough rock tunes, stomping punk, and tunes that can be rough and uncertain, or catchy and wild.

If Dirty Pretty Things have a flaw, it's that many of the songs take awhile to separate themselves. On first listening, many of the rockier, catchier sound very alike with all that blurry fuzzy guitar and bass, but as you listen to them a second time, little tune differences start to emerge.

Barat obviously has no musical pretensions, since there isn't really a moment on here that aspires to be more than it is. The production is left deliberately lo-fi and grimy-sounding, which adds a blurred edge to the razor riffs, solid drumming and hard basslines. It really does sound like it was recorded in a garage, which gives it character a lot of rock doens't have.

And Barat also sounds like he's having a lot of fun as he sings. His voice is a pleasant, slightly hoarse one that can jump over the music, and he can be flexible enough to yowl at times. His songs are solidly written, full of insomnia, grimy rooms, and tangled personal relationships. "And I know that she is wise/And she's the apple of my eye/She's my dirty pretty lover/And I want her at my side!"

While he may not get the press that his old bandmate does, Carl Barat shows his musical savvy in "Waterloo to Anywhere," a good debut for a good band.

This is my favorite album of the past 2 months. Unfortunatley, I can only say that half the songs are worth listening to and one of those didn't make it to the US version! Three songs into the UK version I was convinced I was listening to the album of the year, the next six bored me to tears. The US version spreads the wealth a bit by moving Doctors and Dealers to the middle of the album but that portion is still the weakest link.

Essentials:
Deadwood
Doctors+Dealers
Bang Bang
You F-ing Love It (not a great song but a welcome change of pace)
Wondering
B.U.R.M.A.

Would have made a fine EP but I suppose it's almost priced like one.

The track listing for this album is:

1. "Deadwood" - 2:28
2. "Doctors and Dealers" - 3:18
3. "Bang Bang You're Dead" - 3:33
4. "Blood Thirsty B*stards" - 3:11
5. "The Gentry Cove" - 2:32
6. "Gin & Milk" - 3:06
7. "The Enemy" - 3:36
8. "If You Love a Woman" - 3:13
9. "You F*cking Love It" - 1:54
10. "Wondering" - 2:54
11. "Last of the Small Town Playboys" - 3:31

(Song titles edited by me)

The first single from the group's debut album is "Bang Bang You're Dead", a catchy Britpop track which sounds eerily like Herman's Hermits or even the Beatles at times. The lyrics are very simple and repetitive, which of course ensures that the song sticks in your head. If you don't believe me check the chorus which goes "Bang bang you're dead / Oh I'm so easily lead / Bang bang you're dead / Put all the rumours to bed / Bang bang you're dead"

Second single "Deadwood" is a very short track that leads off the album, a guitar driven track showcasing the talent of Carl Barat, formerly of The Libertines and now front man for Dirty Pretty Things on this debut album. The third single is intended to be the track "Wondering".


Other tracks worth mentioning are "Doctors and Dealers"; "The Gentry Cove" (which sounds like it should accompany a Monty Python movie) and "Gin & Milk", but unfortunately too many of the tracks sound alike to make this album outstanding.

This is the US version which is less than half the price of the UK version, but alas, it only has 11 tracks. (The last track B.U.R.M.A. didn't make it) However, given the price difference it's probably worth getting the US version.


Amanda Richards, August 12, 2006

I can honestly say that Dirty Pretty Things is better than Babyshambles. I have both 'Waterloo to Anywhere' and 'Down In Albion' and I can honestly tell you if you had to choose between the two at a store, choose the first, I went out to get Down in Albion but i didnt have enough money so I got Waterloo to Anywhere, I was not dissapointed, then I bought Down In Albion a short while later, and I feel it was short of Pete Doherty's potential. Carl barat is a genius which will be remembered long after his career comes to an end, which hopefully is not anytime soon. So go out and get Waterloo To Anywhere, you'll fall in love with it. The U.S. version does not include B.U.R.M.A. however.

WHO DIDN'T LOVE EARLY LIBERTINES WORK? I DID LIKE THIS ALBUM AS A WHOLE BETTER THAN THE BABYSHAMBLES ALBUM. IT SEEMED AS IF HALF THE TIME THEY TOOK THE SAFER ROUTE WITH THE SONG WRITING, USING WHAT WORKED WITH THE LIBERTINES, NOT ADDING ANYTHING NEW OR SUBSTANTIAL. IT'S NOT A BAD ALBUM, BUT IT HAS ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE BY THESE GUYS.

This is a well thought & well produced piece of modern rock & roll. The songs do NOT sound alike, as someone above alluded to, but there is a SOUND that follows thru the entire album, which people who don't give it a chance, might confuse with songs sounding alike. The UK import, which I found for not more than the regular US price at a closing Tower Records, has B.U.R.M.A., to end the album, and that song really closes out the songs in a special way, with a sweet sounding vocal that borders romantic, but if you listen to the words in detail, retains the subversiveness that Carl Barat would probably love his listeners to all feel from most of his music. Some songs are angry & are his way of getting a lot of things off his chest, about his life in general, & always the guitars and of course the drums (Powell is amazing on drums), are powerful and fast and when played LOUDLY, get to the point of the lyrics. There are hints of reggae, punk & ska, all against a rock & roll background again, made to played loud. Definitely rewards repeated listens & go to the website to get the lyrics as they are not provided in the liner & you need to read them ALL to get the full effect.

It is a shame that (in America at least) Carl Barat either goes ignored, or is written off as nothing but a footnote in the train wreck that is Pete Doherty. Waterloo to Anywhere proves how talented Barat truly is. Tracks like Gin and Milk, Doctors and Dealers, and The Gentry Cove are some of the best songs I've heard in years. The album is catchy without being repetitive, and despite the fact that the sound, unsurprisingly, is nearly identical to The Libertines, it still feels fresh. Or maybe I just feel relief that Barat and Gary Powell are still making great music. All that being said, it is nearly impossible to listen to Dirty Pretty Things and not miss Pete Doherty. Babyshambles are just not as good as The Libertines, and neither are Dirty Pretty Things, but somehow, the break up of that band feels sharper when listening to Waterloo. Of course, none of this is Barat's fault, and I hope that eventually it will be possible to judge him solely on his considerable talents.

This is a perfectly executed album. There are some great tracks including BURMA, Deadwood, You F***ing Love It, and Bang Bang Your Dead. I recently saw the band twice. They were incredible shows, but predictibly the highlights of the concerts, both from a purely musical perspective and crowd response, were songs by The Libertines. This band really misses the creative edge of Pete Doherty. This band or Barat whichever you wish is incapable of writing a song that could ever approach the brilliance of the Libertines or Doherty's few gems like Albion. But if this album is any indication, there won't be any more Libertines albums and Doherty hasn't proven that he can finish a song that didn't have its roots with the Libertines, so we might as well enjoy this excellent effort.

"I gave you the Midas touch/You turned round and scratched out my heart!" In my opinion you cannot understand Waterloo to Anywhere without seriously listening to Down in Albion. That is probably because I have them in rotation on my player. If there are flaws in either record it is the missing hand of the other master. But since Carl allegedly taught Peter the wherefore's of the guitar I'll give him the benefit of the doubt about who is the better tunesmith. I can't wait until the get back in the studio together.