After Murder Park
For three years now, The Auteurs have stood apart from the growing maelstrom of Brit pop. Sure, they're English and Luke Haines writes what could be called pop songs, but they just don't fit the mold. They're the square pegs who look askance at the round holes of formula. That may be why they chose to have Steve Albini produce this. The Auteurs sound good here--strong, crunchy. Some muscle has replaced the feyness of their previous releases, as if they've been spending time at the musical gym. It helps that Luke's songwriting keeps improving, and he's looking outside himself for subjects. James Banbury's cello and Hammond organ have become fully integrated into the sound and they're not afraid of dragging in strings and horns. But when you get down to it, the song's the thing, and Luke's written some beauts. "Unsolved Child Murder" could almost be the younger, darker cousin of "Eleanor Rigby." "Light Aircraft on Fire" and "The Child Brides" fairly crackle. They'll never be Oasis, or even Pulp, but they don't want to be. The Auteurs have finally established a real identity of their own. The only question is,After Murder Park, then what?--Chris Nickson