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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Romance At Short Notice
by Dirty Pretty Things


8.5

based on 12 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Waterloo To Anywhere

Official Artist Site

The sophomore album for the indie rock band from England headed up by ex-Libertines guitarist Carl Barat.

LABEL:	Vertigo
RELEASE DATE:	30 June 2008
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Indie

NOTES: Currently available as an import only in the U.S.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Hot Press

Maybe Carl was the talented one after all.

Mojo

The songs are beautifully crafted in that Davies/Weller/Doherty English tradition. [Aug 2008, p.103]

New Musical Express

Sure, there’s a residual whiff of mediocrity here, but Carl’s clearly found something else in himself as part of this new gang, and as Dirty Pretty Things’ music grows in assurance, it appears Pete will remain a solitary man for some time yet.

The Guardian

An endearing example of raucous rock with a cynicism-free soft centre.

Uncut

Dig beneath the murky punk riffs (“Chinese Dogs”) and difficult time signatures (“Buzzards And Crows”) however, and you uncover a lyricist of rare promise, at his best when he’s on home turf.

Observer Music Monthly

His post-Pete Doherty project evinces dreary futility: he thinks he's Morrissey, but he sounds more like Sandi Thom.

All Music Guide

Dirty Pretty Things move their music forward with this album, but they've sacrificed their clarity to achieve that.

musicOMH.com

It's a passable enough indie guitar album, but this is a genre that requires shaking up by a truly revolutionary record. This, unfortunately, isn't that record.

Drowned In Sound

Enough signs are pointing in the right direction, but Romance At Short Notice isn’t brave enough to follow each road to its end.

NOW Magazine

'Buzzards And Crows' is a natural opener with its whirly fairground sounds, and 'The North' is a pleasant enough ballad, but when Barat croons, “Yeah, I get the fear, but I couldn’t be bothered” (just one of the many incomprehensibly suburban lyrics in this forgettable collection), the sheer laziness says it all.

Q Magazine

Taking into account the great things expected of those once promising likely lads, Romance At Short Notice offers only more disappointment. [Aug 2008, p.144]

Dot Music

Songs that used to bounce and strut with foolhardy glee now amble, lamenting, the stench of booze and self-pity turning Romance At Short Notice into a wake.

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Moi Me gave it an8:
Really much better than their first and everything Babyshambles have ever done. Liking it a lot. PS. Mojo gave it 4/5, which hasn't been included in the overall score so far...

C Dub gave it a5:
A big step back from their promising first album, which I love. There are only about three songs on the entire record that really rock or even echo of punk, sadly the overwhelming majority of these songs are slow little strummers and sing-alongs. Really too bad, does not live up to my admittedly high expectations.

Javier M. gave it a6:
Tiene calidad, pero, donde esta ese ramalazo punk del album anterior? Ya hay demasiados grupos haciendo este tipo de musica

JJ gave it an8:
I have totally fallen in love with this album. There are some great songs here that are very catchy. JJ Thailand.

Maurice M. gave it an8:
the album itself's delightful, but there is also a ready-made critical reaction to it, as far as most reviews go, of the tired "former libertine/indie scene" type. not fair. most songs on RASN strike me by how original they actually sound. you can feel a really remarkable imagination at work here. poetic, i dare say

Alejandro I. gave it a10:
It's almost as good as the first one, and for sure much better than "shotter´s nation".

Romance At Short Notice by Dirty Pretty Things

Romance At Short Notice
by Dirty Pretty Things