Libertines - What A Waster/i Get

  by Mark Rowland

published: 5 / 6 / 2002

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Review

London's latest in the long line of garage punk bands has already managed to get themselves a substantial reputation through the title track of this, their debut single. 'What a Waster' has been banned from radio everywhere, due to the frequency of its use of the fuck word , the phrase 'Two bob cunts' and its drug references all inside its 2 minutes and 58 seconds running length. As a result, the song is rapidly achieving legendary status. The song itself is actually rather good, a direct descendant of the Jam, and second cousin of the Strokes, only ruder. And cockney. Well, from London anyway. Second A-side, the radio one approved (yes, that's right, the banning isn't quite as bad as it sounds) 'I Get Along' is very Strokes, only a bit scuzzier sounding than New York's richest. This song is also extremely catchy, showing that this band could be a lot more than a band with a controversial novelty single. B-side 'Mayday's traditional punk shows that there's also more to the Libertines song writing than sounding a bit like the Strokes, but then again, it is only a B-side, so it could just be a one off. Either way, this is a very strong debut single, and this band are definitely worth watching.

Track Listing:-

1 What A Waster
2 I Get Along
3 Mayday

Band Links:-

https://www.thelibertines.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thelibertines
https://twitter.com/libertines

Label Links:-

https://twitter.com/RoughTradeRecs
http://roughtraderecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/roughtraderec

Have a Listen:-