Cutting words up with a knife

I never really understood why The Auteurs weren't more successful.

Or why they aren't mentioned as an influence by more bands.

It certainly isn't down to the quality of the music which, aside from the good but unremarkable second album, was always high. Maybe they refused to play the game. Or maybe Luke Haines curmudgeonly manner and stinging cynicism rubbed too many people up the wrong way. I don't know. They certainly weren't easy to pigeon hole and definitely didn't fall into any convenient cliched groups. Too intelligent to carry favour with the rising lad mentality, too cynical to be pop and left adrift between the demise of the American grunge invasion and the birth of Britpop. Mainstream success always seemed to elude them. To be just out of reach. Not that they never came close. The debut album was rightly nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and, if memory serves correct, narrowly missed out on winning to Suede's debut. And in 'Lenny Valentino' they very nearly had a true bonafide hit single. It got actual airplay and everything and for a moment in time it looked like they might actually make their mark on the pre-Britpop era. But it wasn't to be. While they were always critically acclaimed, they were never what you would call darlings of the critics.

It wasn't until Luke formed Black Box Recorder after The Auteurs disbanded that he had a song enter the national conscious. The irony being that 'The Facts Of Life' was one of the worst songs he'd been involved with. I always got the impression it's success had more to do with the song's titillating title and subject matter than the actual tune itself. Mainstream media played it. There was even an appearance on Top Of The Pops. But despite all the talk of his songwriting genius, little attention was paid after it exited the charts. With the album it came from being one of the weakest he'd been involved in, especially compared to The Auteurs output and Black Box Recorder's debut record, they turned into something of a one hit curiosity. Maybe if Vanessa Paradis had duetted on 'New French Girlfriend' things would have worked out differently. But alas, she pulled the plug on that one so we'll never know.

I'll also never know how good they were live because I never got to see them. The only time they played near me was the night before an exam and I couldn't go. So the closest I go was this live session as part of Mark Radcliffe's Radio One show. They were promoting the second album, which I've already said was probably their weakest. It just didn't seem to hang together well and seemed to find the band at a crossroads uncertain of which direction to take. It certainly isn't a bad record but sandwiched between their awesome debut and the career high of 'After Murder Park', it seemed weak. More so with hindsight. Thankfully though the four songs they chose to play were among the best tracks from that album and here they are for your enjoyment. On their final album's track 'Future Generation', Luke consoles himself that The Auteurs commercial failure at the time would be rewarded by music lovers discovering them in the future. Let's hope so.

The Auteurs - lenny valentino (live session version)

The Auteurs - chinese bakery (live session version)

The Auteurs - modern history (live session version)

The Auteurs - new french girlfriend (live session version)

mp3 / music / the auteurs