After Murder Park [VINYL]

It's easily the darkest album Haines has been involved with, seemingly lacking the prevailing sense of humour that detracted from the bleak misanthropy of later albums like England Made Me and The Oliver Twist Manifesto. In fact, you could probably view it as the start of a dark trilogy of records, continuing with the Baader Meinhof LP (1997) and the abovementioned England Made Me (1998), both of which maintain a similar preoccupation with terrorism, kidnap, social unrest, suicide and personal angst.

Like much of Haines's work, After Murder Park is set against an almost-kitchen-sink depiction of the world, with his subject matter and choice of delivery creating a unique and very British backdrop for these dark tales of dread. The music goes against this slightly by retreating from the acoustic strum of debut album New Wave and it's more boisterous glam follow up Now I'm A Cowboy to create a bizarre amalgamation of U.S. style noise rock and more traditional British pop (think the Beatles, the Smiths, the aforementioned Kinks, and so on). The switch in sound probably has a lot to do with recording engineer Steve Albini, who brings his trademark sound of punctured drums, distorted guitars and vocals pushed low in the mix that really benefited albums like The Pixies' Surfer Rose and Seamonsters by The Wedding Present. After Murder Park has similarities to both those albums, but also has further elements to make it a little more unique. The spirit of New Wave remains with the appearance of an acoustic guitar on at least five cuts, whilst there are shades of Ziggy-era Bowie and that great caustic Costello classic Blood & Chocolate found on some of the more abrasive tracks.

There's also a shade of Bends-era Radiohead too, with Haines standing as a guitarist easily in the same league as Johnny Greenwood, and this album easily eclipsing The Bends in terms of consistent songwriting, production and performance (in my opinion at least!!). Regardless of influence, it is Haines's unique world view that shines through clearest of all, with his music managing to sound both grungy and grim, but also catchy and filled with pop hooks!! Similarly, his lyrics manage to capture the rose-tinted nostalgia of Ray Davies and the Kinks, but also offer a subversive element, with a more violent and volatile streak that seems to suggest fellow rock curmudgeon Mark E. Smith at his most bitter and twisted. This is obvious right from the start, with the opening track, Light Aircraft On Fire, offering a juxtaposing subject matter, a pile-driving glam/pop/alt-rock rhythm, and those ever-present snarled and sniping vocals. Like all the greatest songwriters, Haines can sing a song about one thing whilst implying something else. So, a song that seems to be very much about a light aircraft on fire takes on various other connotations and interpretations, with most believing the song to be about a volatile and dying relationship.

The rest of the album follows a similar lyrical trajectory, with later songs like Child Brides, Buddha and the storming Married To a Lazy Lover (a song apparently inspired partly by the voyeuristic musical perversion of Costello's classic stalker anthem I Want You) all continuing the idea of damaged relationships, whilst other songs like New Brat In Town, Everything You Say Will Destroy You and Tombstone seem to be taking pot-shots at the Britpop massive and their hollow existence of drug-taking, tabloid-bating, stadium-filling mediocrity. Fear of Flying on the other hand could be interpreted as a fear of failing ("you should be weary of ghosts in the dark / they know all your history they know all your past"), whilst the almost-anthemic Dead Sea Navigators is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of life's great losers ("john the barman, and Mickey Greene, this one goes out to all the drinkers at the Red Lion... overcoat boys with more brains that brawn, this one's for you!!"), which leaves the two most sinister songs as the album's highlights of highlights.

Unsolved Child Murder is the greatest Beatles song never written, with Haines creating a beautiful melody that embraces a burst of Blackbird-style acoustic guitar, a For No One referencing French horn refrain, and a use of cello far greater than that from Eleanor Rigby. The lyrics represent Haines at his absolute best ("People round here / don't like to talk about it / presumed dead / unsolved child murder... / since they dragged the lake / you know they seemed au fait / cordoned off some wood and gave a photo to a psychic / presumed dead / unsolved child murder") creating a rich scenario, an evocative character vignette and a piece of personal reflection simultaneously!!! The title track is very much the follow up to Unsolved Child Murder, once again employing the lush acoustic guitar sound, alongside James Banbury's cello, Alice Readman's double-bass and Barney Rockford's drums.

It's another one of Haines's all-time greatest moment, juxtaposing the horror of the subject matter with a gorgeous pop arrangement and the classic closing refrain; "I'll love you until the end". After Murder Park is really a fantastic album... proof that great work can come out of a period of great personal pain, and further proof (along with New Wave, England Made Me and Oliver Twist) that Luke Haines is one of Britain's most gifted and vital songwriters. A mid-nineties masterpiece, then... that not enough people know about.