The Libertines still want to crack America.
The ‘Run Run Run’ hitmakers have been successful in their native UK for over 20 years but co-frontman Pete Doherty’s well-documented addiction struggles and legal issues have prevented them from heading Stateside, but now the 45-year-old rocker is clean, they are hoping to get the opportunity to promote their new album, ‘All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade’ across the pond.
Fellow frontman Carl Barat told The Sun newspaper of their US ambitions: “Trouble is, Pete’s been banned there for the past 20 years.
“We don’t know what we’re worth ticket wise — it could be Madison Square Garden or a local bar.
“But we’re hoping, especially with Pete’s progress, to get there and find out.”
Looking back on their previous records, Carl thinks their debut album, 2002’s ‘Up The Bracket’, was filled with hope and ambition.
He said: “That album represents bright lights, ambition, happy-go-lucky mentality — and disbelief at finding ourselves in that position at that time.
“We felt we were standing in the pantheon of our idols. I bought a picture of James Dean in Camden Market and we added little pictures of John Lennon, Groucho Marx, Ian Brown and Morrissey.
“We named it The Anxiety Of Influence. These were our heroes and we thought we could get a step closer to their world.”
But the singer, also 45, finds it hard to “celebrate” their self-titled follow-up, which was released in 2004 at a time when Pete’s personal problems were overshadowing their music.
He said: “It was all about fallout, heartbreak, chaos, exhaustion. I find it hard to celebrate that awful time.
“We aired our dirty laundry in public, which seemed to capture the imagination of those around us…
“All the ongoing shenanigans raised the profile till it became an inferno.”
At the end of 2004, the group split before reuniting in 2010 and ultimately brought out their third album, ‘Anthems For Doomed Youth’ in 2015, and the ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ singer thinks the record was a stepping stone to where the band find themselves now.
He said: “Even though we still had a lot of unresolved issues between us, we knew we intended to have a future.”