Up the Bracket by The Libertines
Up the Bracket is the debut album by British indie rock band The Libertines, released in October 2002. It reached #35 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was re-released on 8 September 2003 with an additional track, "What a Waster" and DVD featuring the promotional videos for the singles: "Up the Bracket", "Time for Heroes" and "I Get Along". The album was the start of a revival for the British rock scene. In April 2008, BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe chose the album as one of his Masterpieces, playing the album in full with interviews from the band members, fans and fellow musicians who were influenced by the album. The album received widespread praise from critics and has quickly become considered one of the greatest albums of the 2000s.
As The Strokes and White Stripes were importing stateside garage-rock grit to the UK in 2002, <i>Up the Bracket</i> channelled raucous British raconteurs like The Kinks and The Jam to mobilize a new generation of mouthy wasters. From the tetchy title track to the tipsy “Boys in the Band”, The Libertines are the pub-stool prophets who want to confront you one moment and grasp your noggin in a loving headlock the next—all while charming you into buying their next drink.
