The problem Pete Dougherty has, and will continue having, is the perception that everything he does artistically could be viewed as a rock and roll affectation.  The “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” code spills out all over the reckless (baby) shambles of Down In Albion – making it a whole hour of mess after mess. For the most part it’s a pretty glorious mess, truth be told.

Aside from the hugely misguided reggae of “Pentonville” (not a bad song in itself, but it breaks up the set profoundly – keep your finger on that “skip” button), Down In Albion has all of the ingredients for rock and roll abandon – sloppy guitars, slurred vocals, and much of it (most notably the opening “La Belle Et La Bete”) sounds like the band is making it up as they go along.  This sounds like the recipe for a giant disaster, but more than a few rock and roll classics held to this method of “no method”.  Thankfully, producer Mick Jones adds just the right amount of discipline in reining these songs in without stripping them of their desperate honesty.

Say what you will about Doherty (and most do), but the fact remains that he can put a tune together instinctively it seems. Even more so than while in The Libertines, Doherty brings his punk soul to a pretty wide range here – the slow dance of “Albion” (clean this up and ta-da! – you have a Mott The Hoople tune!  This could be due to producer Jones, a known Hoople worshipper), the charging “Killamangiro” (anyone else hear The Jam on this one?), the soulful swing of “The 32^nd Of December”, and the pretty drawl of “The Loyalty Song”.

After a number of line-up changes, Doherty has settled on a group of sympathetic players in the incarnation of Babyshambles here.  No, the rhythm section isn’t near as proficient as what propelled The Libertines, but they have their place in Babyshambles and have to be given some credit here as well.  The whole thing sounds a jam in someone’s garage (I’m guessing these songs sound pretty different each time they’re played live) and, again, that’s not a bad thing.  Thanks to Doherty’s songwriting something quite genuine seeps out (even over the indulgence of putting Kate Moss on backing vocals) and ends up making Down In Albion endearing.

“Endearing” sounds like too safe a word to describe Doherty, who has a legion of fans in the UK that hang on every word (choices of heroes are lacking the world over!) but when you strip away his notoriety it becomes more than enough to keep Down In Albion in your CD player.  Here’s hoping that Doherty keeps his music first and foremost.