Up the Bracket

About Up the Bracket

"Up the Bracket" is the second single from the Libertines and their first from debut album Up the Bracket. The song alludes to London street crime: the "two shadow men on the Vallance Road" who the protagonist defies are a reference to the Kray brothers, two notorious London gangsters of the 1960s; the title is a slang term used by comedian Tony Hancock for a punch to the throat; while "two crooked fingers" refers to the V-sign. "Joseph bloody in the hole" is a reference to Genesis, chapter 37. In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Up the Bracket" at number 47 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. more »