Thursday 7 January 2010

Luke Haines - Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall

Off topic? Possibly, although from a autobiographical view I did indulge in a certain amount of 'britpopness' myself. Back in 1994 and with the Soho glam clubs ringing a death knell at closing time rather than the traditional shout for last orders, I like many others were easily distracted by the gradual rise in guitar bands that were plugging in a mile up the road in Camden.

I didn't take to Suede despite the press being unable to write about them without referencing David Bowie. I never heard that supposed influence on their music myself; it was only when the barely-finished 'Dog Man Star' came out, reminiscent in its darker places of the final - original - Big Star album, that I paid them any attention. Other bands though were of more interest as they took me back to a forgotten appreciation of the likes of the Kinks and the Small Faces; Blur being the obvious example (hardly a new band at the time having already released two albums, the first of which I could just recall from my first stint in record shops and dismissed as bandwagonesque* baggy), but also applicable to the innocent pop of Supergrass.

I think I was the last of my immediate peers to cut my hair short(er), ditch the backcombing and seek out vintage 70s clothing in favour of the unnecessarily skin-tight black jeans. Having 'eat some food' shouted at me by one of London's many homeless in reference to my absurdly skinny legs might have contributed too. Sure, these decisions did lead to a certain amount of daft accusations of 'selling out' from non-friends who clung on to the rock & roll dream (most of whom would then turn up in the Dublin Castle or the Good Mixer within two years). There's nothing like taking a narrow-minded view when it comes to good music.

But was it good music? According to Luke Haines it most certainly wasn't, except that which he produced as The Auteurs. Who incidentally were not Britpop. Which Haines rightly points out is a horrendous word. In Bad Vibes Haines takes the marvellous approach of looking back on the 1990s without bringing hindsight into play. He simply writes about the period exactly as he felt at the time - which for the most part means being convinced of his own genius and disparaging towards every other band he came into contact with.

I recall little of the Auteurs in their day. Even when back working at record shops between 1994 and 1996 I don't remember any of their releases fighting for shelf space next to the seemingly endless dross churned out by Marion, Northern Uproar, Ocean Colour Scene et al. Turns out that Haines went out of his way not to release any meaningful product during precisely the period where The Auteurs might have achieved new heights of success. Given his non-use of hindsight in the book one can only speculate on whether this is something he now regrets.

Having started out alongside Suede, including losing the 1993 Mercury Music Prize to them by a single vote, and seing them almost implode (Bernard Butler quitting the band midway through the recording of 'Dog Man Star') it's possible that he's perfectly happy with his lot, particularly as he would then have watched Suede drag themselves along with a lookalike replacement and producing trash such as, well 'Trash'.

Case in point: it's summer 1996 and I'm in a nightclub in Mainz, Germany. It's one of those clubs that plays a bit of everything, and they have a regular 'britpop' slot. As well as the obvious candidates, this slot also includes Billy Bragg's 'A New England', and everyone dances throughout (even for Dagenham's finest). Then the DJ slaps on Suede's latest and by the end of the first verse I realise that people are fleeing the dancefloor like litter on the breeze. I of course follow, and just as 'Trash' completes its first chorus it's subjected to a swift fade and is replaced by some non-descript Europop.

About 10 years ago I did pick up How I Learned to Love the Bootboys in a charity shop, a 70s influenced album which I've given only a few spins (opener 'The Rubettes' is a fine non-glam glam number) that I gather doesn't truly show what The Auteurs were about (and was released after the book ends, referred to only as what was intended to be 'The Commercial One'). More recently I also stumbled upon the Steve Albini-produced After Murder Park. One murky album, it's the subject of a great anecdote in Bad Vibes concerning three-quarters of Metallica jostling for space on a two-seater sofa. I believe I've played it once.

My relative unfamiliarity with The Auteurs, though, did not retract one iota from this book. Haines writing is so good, and his stories so amusing, that I found myself at the last page in no time at all and wondering whether a second volume is planned. Right now I've got their much-lauded (and big in France) debut, New Wave, streaming on Spotify. It might not be hindsight, but I'm pleased to have finally discovered The Auteurs, and with Baader Meinhoff and Black Box Recorder waiting in the wings I've got a lot of catching up to do.

* Not to be confused with 'Bandwagonesque' by Teenage Fanclub

Now reading: I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay by Toby Litt

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