SUCH is the circus that surrounds all things Pete Doherty, you feel the English press would find it necessary to invent him if he left us for whatever reason. So every now and again we get an album that reminds us that Doherty is actually a musician, usually followed by a PR spiel readying us for the Second Coming of the Bard of Albion. But wait, just because Shotter's Nation doesn't sound like it was recorded in a squat with syringes for plectrums doesn't make it a masterpiece. Not quite. And remember that Babyshambles' first album was no dog either. It's just that Shotter's Nation sounds like its cleaned-up cousin - all shiny edges and syrupy vocals. Indeed, Doherty's abstinence - not to mention a settled band - may be the reason that he audibly speaks up, nay sings, on this record.

Opener 'Carry On Up The Morning' is a light appetiser, while the single 'Delivery', a nod to the Kinks and Kings of Leon's 'Molly's Chambers', is probably the most catchy two and a half minutes Babyshambles have recorded. But it's when we get further in and the spaces open up (as Johnny Giles might say) that this gets interesting. You may quite possibly end up holding your lighter aloft to 'Unbilo Titled' in some field or other next summer as it is one of the finest songs Doherty has ever written, while drummer Adam Ficek quite accurately describes 'Side of the Road' as Babyshambles "trying to out white stripe the White Stripes".

One thing you can say about Doherty is he always sits respectfully atop the shoulders of giants rather than stamping all over them like Oasis and so 'Crumb Bagging' has a kind of 'Light My Fire' feel to it. 'Unstookie Titled' and 'French Dog Blues' get my vote for best back-to-back tunes, while 'There She Goes' is a lovely swing number which sounds like it was written after a few whiskeys at about 4am - which it probably was. If the public don't buy this then forget about it Pete, there's always Celebrity Big Brother.

Download: 'Baddies Boogie' 'There She Goes' 'Unstookie Titled'