Let's give a hand to John Hassall and Gary Powell, who had two of the most thankless jobs in rock music, yet performed their duties responsibly and reliably. Together they formed the rhythm section of the Libertines-- Hassall on bass and Powell on drums-- but are better known as the two who aren't Carl Barât and Pete Doherty. They don't make tabloid headlines for self-destructive behavior (as Doherty does on a semiregular basis), nor do Hassall and Powell get their pictures on the covers of the band's albums. On the new What Became of the Likely Lads EP-- which will likely serve as the band's swansong-- they appear on the back cover partially obscured by the tracklist, while the singers/guitarists grace the front.
There is, arguably, nothing uncommon about this separation of rhythm and melody: Barât and Doherty were, after all, the faces of the Libertines, lifelong friends whose deteriorating comraderie fueled the soap opera that fueled the albums Up the Bracket and The Libertines. But What Became of the Likely Lads-- which gathers two versions of the title track, four live cuts, and the UK single "Don't Look Back Into the Sun"-- makes it clear that Hassall and Powell actually held the band together, if only musically.
On the live tracks, the pair locks into the songs' grooves and keeps them on track, often reining in the guitarists when they stray. "Skag and Bone Man" (the B-side to the UK single "Up the Bracket") is rough and loose, with Powell breaking into a drum solo as the song falls apart. They do better with the Up the Bracket tracks "Time for Hero's" (sic) and "Boys in the Band", although they're not too far removed from the originals. But it's the dynamic between the steady rhythm section and the rambunctious guitars and vocals, rather than that between Barât and Doherty, that makes these tracks so tensely compelling. It's like watching a sober guy walk his drunk friend home; just one stumble and they both hit the sidewalk. The drama derives from the band's teetering proximity to chaos, in which lies not rock'n'roll glory but pathetic tragedy, but Hassall and Powell make sure they keep putting one foot in front of the other.
That precarious sound translates as naturally to the studio tracks as it does to the live songs, which is to the considerable credit of producer Mick Jones. "What Became of the Likely Lads", a remarkable song from the largely unremarkable The Libertines, gets two treatments: the album version and a "reworked" version, which aren't different enough from each other to justify the inclusion of both tracks. The album version may ultimately trump the new one, if only for the interplay between Barât and Doherty. The song is about their harried friendship and their complexity of reconciliation, as Doherty is working with Babyshambles and Barât goes solo. For their troubles, Hassall and Powell at least had the best seats in the house.
