Dirty Pretty Things Return

Talk about uninspired returns ... Dirty Pretty Things (MySpace) -- long known as the other band to splinter from the Libertines -- is back, but this time they've completely lost their bite. The appeal of Carl Barât & co. was that they represented the clean, the stoic, the knowing that the Libertines and Pete Doherty lacked. Dirty Pretty Things, with their delicate arrangements, intricate guitar melodies, consciously distorted rhythm guitar lines, occasional horn and string arrangements, and sweet, sweet hooks positioned themselves as the band to succeed and be in it for the long haul.

Now, not so much. The London quartet's returned with one heck of a pub-rocking single, "Tired of England." Equal parts psych-rock haze and deliberate, extra-straight bar band rock. There's an iota of a hook and a lovely little bridge in the middle of the track, but aside from that, the song is a half-baked thought about British nationalism (that's an oversimplification, but you'll get it once you hear it).

"How can they be tired of England?" How can we be tired of you, Barât?

Dirty Pretty Things - Tired of England (Album Version)