I'm not one of these people who doesn't care what people think, otherwise I'd stay in and play for the bedroom wall," says the Libertines' Peter Doherty, talking with a hoarse voice he says he woke up with after sleeping in a bush outside a train station the night before. (He missed the last train.) "But you can't force people to like your music."

The Libertines' debut album, Up the Bracket, has already sold 110,000 copies in the U.K., thanks to ramble-shamble songs such as "What a Waster," "Vertigo" and "Boys in the Band," with the same combination of snottiness, wit and swagger that propelled bands like the Kinks, the Clash and Blur. (The album was actually produced by former Clash guitarist Mick Jones.)

The Libs began when Doherty met fellow singer-guitarist Carl Barat in 1996. The two, who are roommates in London now, both grew up in working-class families that moved around a lot. "Carl was some kind of shady acquaintance of my sister's," says Doherty. "I knew he was a twisted bastard. Then I heard him practicing, and I thought, 'Fuckin' Nora!' which means, 'Oh, my God!' " They spent the next few years "hitchhiking and hanging around squats" until late in 2001, when they signed with Rough Trade.

Because they sport moppy hairdos, tight T-shirts, beat-up leather jackets and a retro rock sound, the Libertines are often compared with the Strokes. In 2001, an old Libertines friend, Banny Poostchi, who is now their manager, had a revelation. "She saw the Strokes and heard a cash tone ring in her head," Doherty says. The Libertines are now fielding offers from major U.S. labels and asking for more than half a million bucks, according to music-business sources. They're also on the bill for the Coachella festival in April and may join Lollapalooza this summer. "It's that mysterious thing called hype," Doherty says. "I've looked under every rock, and I couldn't find out what it means. Certain people hear a certain melody, and they're attracted to it. I'm in love with that feeling. We're looking for fun and adventure and a bit of redemption and somewhere to live. Everything else is a blind venture into the unknown.

Watchin "Time for Hereos" and "Up The Bracket"

JENNY ELISCU
(March 11, 2003)