"Hello there, you lovelies. I’m gonna do some stuff I’ve not done for a while. You may like it, you may not. I don’t particularly care." And with a chuckle and mischievous glint in his eye, he launches into Mogadishu. New single, Leeds United, comes with its very own soliloquy, as Luke talks of Peter Sutcliffe and his fondness for rock’n’roll discos. Feigning immediate regret, he comically muses over the possibility that the song’s potential success could be affected by such intimate knowledge, “if there’s anyone from ‘the charts’, forget everything you’ve just heard”.  | | Luke Haines (pic: Damian Morgan) |
Joking aside, he may have a point – if he’s ever produced anything remotely chart suitable, and dare I say commercial, this is it. From the opening line of domesticity to the rowdy football chant of a chorus, it’s a real sing-along indie anthem with that all important boy-band style key change – genius. A strong set continues, each song balancing the major and minor, creating a disconcerted irony, a sadness that reveals laughter – emblematic entirely of Mr Haines’ light humour amid dark subjects. "Here’s a song I co-wrote with Hank Williams. I hope you like it. I don’t think he did" is how he introduces Off My Rocker - he most certainly is. Gruff husky tones reference European art and Nazi songs, with the end of each line falling into a Mark E Smith hazy drawl. New French Girlfriend, that classic Auteurs moment, is as close as we’re going to get to serious sentimentality tonight, even though it leads straight into Child Psychology, Luke’s "best ever chorus". Admittedly, he likes his no-nonsense approach to life and lyrics and even threatens "I may become a Samaritan." Tonight, we’ve met a man with an aversion to work, a strange fascination in murder and a unique approach to performance, stopping at least three times mid-song to elucidate, joke about and even defend the un-defendable. Charming, dapper, and incredibly funny – Luke Haines is everything that I thought he wouldn’t be. And to top it off, his songs are even better. |
