9. Mayday - The Libertines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8RryO-jgQ This is the most punk thing the Libertines ever did. Its not just a one-minute snippet of pub brawl bedlam its the most concise summary of the band itself and their short-lived, coke-fuelled shooting star of a musical journey ever to come to fruition. It encapsulates everything the Libertines (particularly Doherty) were; loose cannons in trilbies with short tempers and only a distant memory of sobriety, swinging from one shambolic mishap to the next without paying much attention to the repercussions and having a bloody good time in the process. A maniacal riff; a primal scream; a few barely audible descriptions of the squares he can see around him caught up in the most exciting moments of their lives; and a hell of a lot of smashed glass, and its all done and dusted, cleaned up and moving on to the next one within 66 seconds. Whatever your opinions on Pete Doherty et al, this is one sure-fire way to get a bit of that inner anger out of your system (Nirvanas Territorial Pissings being another that might have made it onto this list, were it a shade shorter). Length: 1:06
Jack Haworth
Contributor
A mythical hedonist, a chronic solipsist, a poet armed with a mouth full of adjectives, a brain full of adverbs and a box full of laxatives. Writing words in a language that isn't real to impress people that I invented since The Big Bang.
See more from
Jack