Up the Bracket

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.