Noel Gallagher’s damning criticism of Pete Doherty: “He’s just a junkie”
Every generation of rock and roll usually has a problem with the one which comes immediately after it. The goal of any band is to remain relevant for as long as they can, and when new blood starts rearing its head, it’s only a matter of time before the old guard is either tossed out on their ass or forgotten entirely. Noel Gallagher still had a firm grasp on the rock scene as Oasis entered the 2000s, but he saw nothing but a cheap attempt at bringing back guitars when looking at Pete Doherty.
This is strange because if there was one band that was making English rock look good, it was The Libertines. They were far from the most well-behaved group in the world, but in terms of not giving a shit about what people thought, they were the millennial answer to Sex Pistols in lots of ways, much like Liam Gallagher was the John Lydon of his day when people first heard ‘Supersonic’.
However, whereas Lydon was the real mastermind behind Sex Pistols’ greatest songs, Doherty’s rapport with Carl Barât seemed to be modelled on Joe Strummer and Mick Jones of The Clash. They both had something to say about modern living, but it was steeped in some of the catchiest guitar-driven tunes of the era.
And the cold, hard truth was that they were doing it miles better than Oasis were by that point in their career. Not that the Manchester legends were on the downslide by any means, but the stadium rock of Heathen Chemistry and songs ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ and ‘Little By Little’ were a far cry from what tracks like ‘The Boy Looked at Johnny’ and ‘I Get Along’ sounded like on the streets.
Regardless of how authentic they were, Noel was still less than thrilled with what he heard at first. When discussing other groups on the scene like Arctic Monkeys, the Oasis mastermind said he thought Doherty had nothing to say, recalling, “Without them, we’d still be stuck with bloody Pete Doherty, you know what I mean? He’s just a junkie and thinks too much of himself, and his music is rubbish!”
Yes, there are some pieces of the production that are questionable on The Libertines’ records, but that’s why they work so well. This is supposed to be a little bit rough around the edges, and since half of their tunes sound like they’re about to fall apart, there’s a certain energy that’s captured in the songs that isn’t as present in most other rock acts.
In fact, The Libertines might be a better answer to The Strokes than the Arctic Monkeys were when they came out. While The Strokes eventually morphed into a different-sounding band after their first two records, The Libertines’ decision to break up after their two masterpieces before reuniting may have been the best thing they could have asked for.
And it’s not like Noel wasn’t paying attention, either, considering the guitars on the 2009 album Dig Out Your Soul had a much dirtier bent. He could have just been testing out some bluesy material, but maybe there were a few licks that he wanted to steal the minute that he heard Doherty and Barat playing together.
