Customer Reviews

How I Learned to Love the Bootboys

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After taking a break from the Auteurs to venture in other musical challenges (Baader Meinhof, Black Box Recorder, even solo albums) the always prolific Luke Haines decided to reunite his old band and show just why the Auteurs were widely considered one of the top british bands of the 90's.

Their sound might be somewhat similar to that of Suede or Pulp but the Auteurs have always been sexier and had a more ominous vibe to them (Haines at times sounds like John Lennon's evil twin) than those two bands.

Also their lack of a truly significant breakthrough single/album has turned them into an independent voice, untainted by success, and as that unafraid to vent their opinions however they felt right- hence Luke Haines' unique and uncompromising lyrics.

Maybe the Auteurs have slipped in Haines' priority list in relation to Black Box Recorder but it's always good to see him return in grand style to his first incarnation as iconoclastic glam popster.

Although never rated as the greatest Auteurs album (that honour usually being reserved for its predecessor, the Steve Albini-produced After Murder Park), How I Learned To Love The Bootboys is a good final effort. Centring around the theme of 70s nostalgia (almost all of Haines' albums have some sort of concept running through them), the sound is less incendiary than that of After Murder Park, and is mainly smart guitar pop with the occasional glam-rock tinge, placing Haines in the same ballpark as Elvis Costello as a songwriter. Opener 'The Rubettes' sounds classic and well-produced from it's quiet, picked verse to its glammy chorus; '1967' is gorgeously unfolding and sweet, while 'The South Will Rise Again' is guitar pop with typically Luke Haines lyrics ('he was a leading light/with his fascism of the day'). The title track and 'Asti Spumante' are almost dancefloor-influenced, menacing numbers that sounds like a more accessible PiL.

Not everything is successful - the half-finished, Haines-by-numbers 'School' and the sickly 'Some Changes' don't merit repeated listens, but as 'Future Generation' closes out the Auteurs career with grace and dignity with an only semi-tongue-in-cheek lyric about a future generation rediscovering them and giving them the adulation they deserve. This may never happen, but Haines has certainly gained a cult following over the years, and continues to with his subsequent solo albums.

Another Classic... of New Wave or Rock

1 1/2

Partially paralyzed, singer-songwriting indie pop is all self-absorbed yarn besides the few hummable choruses the don't breed catchy contempt.