Pete Doherty recently granted something of an extended interview to Spin magazine. In addition to the posing for the above photo with poor kitty, Pete made a startling revelation about his band, Babyshambles:

“You know what?” he says, unfolding himself from the tangle of limbs. “Something good has happened to us. We are, dare I say it, a professional unit these days. When people get us in a room together now, they actually treat us like musicians. Before, they would treat us as anything but: pigeon fanciers, candles, dry humpers…”

After describing Babyshambles’ Shotters Nation as a critical success and the best English rock album released in 2007, the author characterizes Doherty as “an uncommonly gifted songwriter.” Unfortunately, his band hasn’t quite been able to hop across the pond into Yanks’ hearts:

Certainly, in America, where Shotters Nation had at press time sold just 5,000 copies since its October release, he is still little more than the junkie fuckup who almost destroyed Kate Moss’s [sic] career — hence the urgency to turn things around. Videos for the singles “You Talk” and “French Dog Blues” impressed even the most cynical of bloginistas, but without the ability to tour the U.S., thanks to no fewer than 18 arrests in the past five years, Doherty is not likely to gain entry anytime soon. As a result, he still seems an imaginary figure, like some nihilist Easter Bunny.

Then, the article’s author takes great care to explicitly mention that Pete Doherty’s home contains several litterboxes in dire need of changing. Nice.

On The Web: Spin