What a difference a beat makes! Both of these tracks are channelling the spirit of ’81 Tim Hopkins was talking about below – a kind of wired weakness, a sussed vulnerability, a stumble into hoped excitement – I was wondering if the guy on the Jaxx tune is really actually Vic Godard! But The Libertines track doesn’t quite get there – it raises the same smile-meets-wince as Morrissey’s rockabilly singles. ‘Living Room’ on the other hand raises the same laugh-meets-shiver as early Adam Ant. And the gap between the two is surely rhythm – The Libertines ride a jerky washboard beat which keeps coyly interrupting itself; The Jaxx’ drums stutter too, but the pulse of the song never falters even when the stutters turn into fuzzed fibrillations and the whole of the track seems likely to break down. And they sound so good too! It’s a pop lesson, maybe – whatever else you play with or plunder, always make sure your drums are up to date.