Back, back, back with their long-awaited third album Anthems For Doomed Youth, The Libertines have slipped another single out from it and the video doesn't do much to play down their wild reputation.
The clip for 'Heart Of The Matter' finds the boys in the band force illicit substances on tied-up extras. Not actual drugs, you understand. Oh, and it's all part of a bizarre peep show, as fans watch on and laugh. And then Carl Barat bludgeons someone's head in at the end.
Pure fiction of course – read our interview with the quartet in the current issue of Hot Press for confirmation that Mr. Barat and his mates are lovely guys really – but it certainly more than alludes to the occasionally dark mythos of the indie rockers.
"The Libertines have never been a band to lack candour or bravery... almost to a fault," says director and long-time Libs collaborator Roger Sargent. "Their honesty, their friendship, has played out in the public domain often with catastrophic consequences.
"In ‘Heart Of The Matter’, Peter and Carl reflectively talk about the damage and abuse they have caused themselves over the years, openly mystified that they have survived thus far. It's a catharsis, a bleak, bold and brave one.
"To that end, when we talked about making the video for the song we all felt it had to be similarly honest. The unsettling subjects could not be shied away from. On the contrary, these had to be faced head on."
Check it out...