CHERRY RED
★★★
With R.E.M.’s Peter Buck disappointingly subdued, this unlikely collaboration gives The Auteurs’ Luke Haines freedom to ramble about eccentric themes.
As always, he sounds gruff, his quiet sneer often malevolent, whether on the muzzled Apocalypse Beach or sinister Witch Tariff. Buck’s chugging riffs are effective alongside Haines’ theatrical huffing on French Man Glam Man Gang, while the title track starts like Bowie’s Scary Monsters before transitioning into The Blue Aeroplanes.