The Libertines will release a souped-up version of their landmark debut, Up the Bracket, on October 21, via Rough Trade. The deluxe edition corrals 65 rarities including demos, radio sessions, and live recordings, including one from the 100 Club in 2002. It comes with a 60-page book featuring a foreword by Matt Wilkinson, new interviews with the band, and photos and memorabilia. The band will play London’s Wembley Arena, backed by the Cribs and others, on July 23.
With the release of Up the Bracket in 2002, the Libertines instantly established a UK counter-current to rival the international sensation of the Strokes’ Is This It. Peter Doherty and co-frontman Carl Barât set an enduring paradigm for British indie, weaving tall tales of late-night escapades and Victorian daydreams that seemed equally inspired by Oscar Wilde and the likes of the Clash, the Kinks, and the Voidoids. In 2004, their self-titled follow-up album came out amid rumors of rampant bacchanalia and inner-band division, with Doherty leaving the group in disgrace after burgling Barât’s flat. By 2006, when Doherty released the debut Babyshambles album, the group had formally split.
A decade on, after a handful of reunion-tour stints, the Libertines released their third album, Anthems for Doomed Youth. Since then, Doherty has released a handful of albums and announced a memoir about his “creative process, decadent parties, substance-fueled nights, his time in prison and tendency for self-destruction,” according to press materials. The book also discusses “poetry, Paris, philosophy, politics, the music business, and his key influences (from Hancock to Baudelaire).” He released his latest album, The Fantasy Life of Poetry & Crime, with the French artist Frédéric Lo, earlier this year.
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