Razorlight rec

Razorlight, Up All Night(Vertigo)

Dorian Lynskey
Friday June 18, 2004
The Guardian

Razorlight's Johnny Borrell emerged from the same East End squat scene as the Libertines, and it's a shame they didn't get a record out first, because the similarities are more than superficial.

To a soundtrack of catchy, fidgety punk, both bands chart a London underworld teeming with urchins and scallywags. But while the Libertines invent their own peculiar mythology, Borrell's is overfamiliar, whether he is name-dropping Bukowski with sixth-form self-consciousness or rhyming "rock'n'roll lies" with "rock'n'roll eyes".

If conviction were all that mattered, however, this would be a masterpiece. Borrell roars through the frenetic Rip It Up and climaxes the Patti Smith-inspired In the City with a thrilling, pop-eyed rant. When he advises "Don't go back to Dalston!", it is with such anguished force that you are left in no doubt that you should stay away from part of London.

Originality may not be Razorlight's strong point, but Borrell's raw charisma carries the day.