No Rock And Roll Fun

STILL, HE'S GOT THE RENT BOY GIG TO FALL BACK ON: So, apparently, Pete's permanently out of the Libertines, or so someone claiming to be him has told one of their fansites:
Further to this.. I suppose replies will be forthcoming, so I will try and respond in advance to notions I have of your responses.

First:
I can see it from their point of view, I have proven unreliable and let people down. Gary, John and Carl have worked like martres and I just expect to show up when I choose. They have made a stand and I can't just swan up and plug in and scream it all out anymore. I don't want to be in that position anymore, I dont want to have all of 'em relying on my whims, and the thoughtlessness of my relatives dropping off one by one.

second:
I am not comfortable with the line up and over the months have repeatedly (if a little cowardly in my subtleness) tried to explain to Gary and John that I don't want to be in a band with them. My capriciousness deters them from taking me seriously but that is the way it is. My new songs are all I have, along with my liberty, and everything has to be just right from now on in. I need to start singing my new songs, and I want to play with other people.

thirdly:
the recent responses from Libertines fans have made me a little bored and aweary. I think a sensitive, more open minded crowd of ears awaits me and yes, I'll watch my back.

So, there it is then - a frankly baffling decision on the part of the rump Libertines; it's like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs deciding they could do without Karen O, or, erm, Alex Ferguson happily consigning David Beckham to Eurodrudgery (yeah, you thought you'd have avoided that topic here, didn't you?). Sure, they can probably find someone who plays as well - maybe better - but fans don't cling to bands or teams because of their techincal proficiency. It's the personality that engages, and you can have a band or a team where the character is all closed out, where the automaton-rating is high. But it won't be something to take to your heart, to cherish, to dream of running away to join in the middle of the night when the police helicopter has woken you up again.

The Libertines should look at Hurricane Number One, The Healers, The Seahorses - even the post-Limahl KajaGooGoo. There are hundreds of bands that are projects where the musically gifted have tried to do without the awkward, angelic bugger. Almost all of them are turgid and life-affiriming only in the sense that you don't know you're born until you try to get through a fourteenth grim guitar solo.