BABYSHAMBLES - Down In Albion 2xLP

Label: Rough Trade

Down in Albion, as the band’s name suggests, is a shambolic, and at times, glorious mess. The album, like the band, is former Libertine Pete Doherty’s to win or lose. He shares Pogue-poet Shane MacGowan’s literary bent, as they say in remedial classes. The boy can pen a line.

A published poet, Doherty is celebrated as much for his literary musings in the Books of Albion as for his music. Not since MacGowan was splashing through the gutters of Soho in the mid-’80s has such a pitch-perfect ruffian catalogued London’s underbelly so well.

These are the makings of “best of the year” album, thanks in large part to Mick Jones — he lathers Clash-inspired “cheese-grater” touches all over “Albion”‘s sprawling mass. The gaffer-taped vibe keeps Down in Albion as loose as a bag of marbles, while maintaining its fevered core intact. Down in Albion isn’t the sound of defeat or surrender — it’s the sound of a “likely lad” embracing his promise.