Luke Haines
-
Adventures in Dementia
published: 14 /
3 /
2015
Label:
Outside Music
Format: CD
Incomprehensible new mini-album from the Auteurs and Black Box Recorder’s Luke Haines
Review
Luke Haines first came to public attention as a member of David Westlake's 1980’s band the Servants, before he formed the Auteurs in 1991. After this he began a succession of other projects, including Black Box Recorder, but for the last few years has focused on a solo career.
‘Adventures in Dementia’, his latest offering, lasts just under fifteen minutes, As a stand-alone EP/mini-album, I don't think it works. It's a micro opera, which is meant to tell a story within the songs. The lyrics are decent enough, but without a lyric sheet in front of him or her the listener is left scratching their head.
As a performance piece it probably works better. It is loosely based on a stupid story about a Mark E. Smith impersonator and a skinhead wanting to kill him. That starts to become apparent on the self-titled last song, but getting there proves lyrically very odd. The standard ‘Jerusalem’ is given a fresh paint job. ‘Caravan Man’, the opener, is a 50's rock and roll number and is the best track on this, while ‘Regeneration’ is full of raw punk fury.
A national treasure, Luke Haines is still going the extra mile, but it's just understanding him which proves the hard part here.
Track Listing:-
1
Caravan Man
2
I'm A Very Friendly Lion Called Parsley
3
Cats That Look Like M.E.S (Live)
4
Jerusalem (Live)
5
Regeneration (Live)
6
Adventures in Dementia (Live)
Band Links:-
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https://www.facebook.com/lukehainesuk