Indie Rock

Hey, pop pickers! Remember the Seventies, that fab decade of flares, tartan scarves and BMX bikes? Luke Haines (right) remembers…

Hey, pop pickers! Remember the Seventies, that fab decade of flares, tartan scarves and BMX bikes? Luke Haines (right) remembers it well - so well in fact that he's written a whole album about it. And guess what - it's absolutely triffic! But The Auteurs' newie, How I Learned To Love The Bootboys, is no mere nostalgic trawl through the golden age of glam rock, Dallas and Saturday Night Fever. "It's a record of anti-nostalgia," sez Luke, the ascerbic one in the band. "It's making the point that all we can do is assimilate the past. I hate all that stuff - the idea of a golden past to be relived at every opportunity." On the album, the outspoken singer attacks some of our fave icons from the Seventies, including The Rubettes, Gary Glitter and Starsky & Hutch. Blasphemy! But before we hang this rock 'n' roll heretic from the highest platform, let's not forget that the Seventies wasn't all one big disco party. There was also - amazingly - some heavy negative stuff too, including street violence, power strikes and economic recession, which Luke tells us all about in such top tunes as Some Changes, School and Your Gang, Our Gang.

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney is an Irish Times journalist