‘Oh Shit’: The Fun Uncomplicated Single from The Libertines’ Upcoming Album

The Libertines have been anything but stagnant as of late. 

Following the announcement of their fourth studio album, ‘All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade’, the three subsequent singles, and a flurry of live shows, the band are still keeping fans on their toes, releasing their fourth single, ‘Oh Shit’. 

If there's one thing the band has persistently accomplished throughout their music, it's relatability, which still rings true now. Their latest track tackles the cost of living crisis and the relentless feeling of making enough to get by. But ‘Oh Shit’ is far from a maudlin lament on the troubling state of affairs we live in; instead, it pulsates with energy. It's anthemic, not just musically as seen in Carl Barat's talent behind a guitar, but lyrically too, with an injection of Pete Doherty's signature vocals as backing. 

There has been a consensus amongst critics and fans that the song is an earworm, and that’s undeniable. It lies underneath the surface, from the familiarity that echoes ‘Don't Look Back Into the Sun’ to the punchy lyrics and their forceful delivery, ‘Oh Shit’ imprints on the brain and brings a smile to your face. 

Out of all the singles released from ‘All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade’, ‘Oh Shit’ possesses the most characteristically Libertines sound by far, perhaps a given with those recollections to prior hits, but the atmosphere and feeling it creates is something only The Libertines can achieve. 

The single has certainly heightened the anticipation surrounding the album’s release. It will be interesting to hear where ‘Oh Shit’ fits in the running around equally energetic rager ‘Run, Run, Run’, eerily haunting ‘Night of the Hunter’, and refreshingly dramatised ‘Shiver’.

It's fun, it's uncomplicated, it's The Libertines.

“Oh, shit!” indeed. 

Megan-Louise Burnham

@mgn.lb
Image: ‘All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade’ Official Album Cover