Bad Vibes

These recollections could be mistaken for a great comic novel… Haines is as funny as he is grumpy * Independent on Sunday *
Haines’ prolific spleen, pasty English wit and peerless way with a smartly tailored insult was always going to make this memoir essential reading * Time Out *
Beautifully acerbic and elegant… a viciously funny writer * Q Magazine *
A lavishly bitchy memoir packed with gripes, grievances and tall stories told at the expense of other more famous musicians … Haines has constructed a vivid literary persona for himself as the great, grumpy Nearly Man of 1990s rock … He pours endless scorn on his amiable peers, who bizarrely seem not to mind or even notice … Rock’s misanthrope in excelsis * The Sunday Times *
As entertaining as Spinal Tap * Guardian *
A compulsive read, part Oswald Spengler, part Spike Millligan, and very, very funny – David Peace, author of The Damned Utd
Luke Haines was a delusional, cruel, pompous and arguably cloth-eared despot throughout the 90s. If he wasn’t such a viciously funny writer, he’d have made an excellent music journalist…A beautifully acerbic and elegant portrayal of a committed misanthrope unleashing the titular bad vibes upon music business doofuses, from telling Chris Evans to fuck off to jumping off a 15-foot wall and breaking his ankles to get out of a European tour. “I have become a fully fledged cunt,” declares Haines proudly. What’s not to love? * Q Magazine *
These recollections of a bitter former pop star could be mistaken for a great comic novel … Compelling … An entertaining read … Haines is as funny as he is grumpy … The formless unpredictable life of the minor rock musician, forever jetting about on unspecified “promotional” duties or being loaded on to a tour bus like cargo rather than talent, has rarely been captured so acutely … Bad Vibes, good book * The Independent on Sunday *
Hilariously unchummy, pugnacious and elegantly embittered * Arena *
Alex James’ A Bit of a Blur this is not…That’s all the better, though, as this relentless nihilism stretches hilariously, snidely, and more often than not bitterly, across 256 pages. There’s Auteurs insights aplenty should you want it and a bloody good read besides if you don’t. Light reading it ain’t. Thrilling reading it most certainly is * Record Collector *

Luke Haines learned guitar in the red light district of Portsmouth and subsequently formally studied music at the London College of Music. His band The Auteurs missed out on the 1992 Mercury Music Prize by one vote - since then he has fronted other acts including Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder.

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