With its Hogarth set to music visions of society’s underbelly, and a Gerald Scarfe-like sharpness to its wit, though The Libertines debut single - backed by equally energetic B-side ‘I Get Along’ - might have come out of the blocks at full speed, but there was a preciseness and a thought behind ‘What A Waster’’s ramshackle charms. A storm of Bond-theme like riffs and ‘Carry On’ entendres, that charged forward with brakes-off drums, bass and the singers’ intertwined vocals, ‘What A Waster’ wasn’t a song to help you get your bearing with a new band, it was a track that made you realise this group would become your whole world. Hell, there was no way out anyway because with their first single Pete and Carl and Gary and John dropped you straight in the middle of the energy and chaos that surged through their lives and fuelled their band. Part calling card from the stars, part postcard from the gutter, when The Libertines made their first introductions there was no time for a gentle warm-up or an orienteering session to point out all the fire exits.
To celebrate its 20th birthday, The Libertines’ debut single ‘What A Waster’ is repressed on seven inch single (backed by original B-side ‘I Get Along’).