Babyshambles

Babyshambles started in London in 2003 as Pete Doherty's side door out of the Libertines, a band he put together while his old group was on ice, and it never stopped sounding like a gang of friends who had wandered into a studio by accident and decided to stay. Doherty sang and played rhythm guitar, and the crew that stuck around longest gave the chaos its shape: Patrick Walden and later Mick Whitnall on lead guitar, Drew McConnell on bass and backing vocals, and Adam Ficek on drums and percussion.

The records came in fits and starts. Down in Albion in 2005 was a sprawling, ragged thing, all wobbly charm and half-finished brilliance, and the swaggering "F*** Forever" gave them an anthem to shout along to. Shotter's Nation tightened the screws in 2007. Then came a long silence before Sequel to the Prequel in 2013, a sunnier, sharper record that put "Nothing Comes to Nothing" on the radio, a jangling, wistful tune that proved Doherty could still write a melody that sticks to your ribs. Along the way there were three EPs and a scattering of singles, with Rough Trade among the labels behind them.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.