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There is a movement under way to bring back songwriting- intensive rock 'n' roll. Record charts and large concert venues aren't packed with rock's new troubadors - yet. But compared with last year, when Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and the like all made waves with their angst-ridden rants, it's something to note when works by Counting Crows, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Pete Droje come bubbling to the surface. It's like taking a walk in the woods after spending the summer on a crowded beach.
The return to well-written lyrics put to stripped-down rock song arrangements isn't confined to the United States, either. London is calling with The Auteurs.
The Auteurs, led by Luke Haines, recently released "Now I'm A Cowboy," a collection of some of the smartest pop-leaning rock songs to be heard out of the United Kingdom since Elvis Costello's first stint with The Attractions.
Costello's Influence
In a recent interview from his London home, Haines said Costello was a guiding influence. But Haines has a thing about looking at the past with too much reverence.
"There's been more of an emphasis on songwriting. A lot are doing it, but not very well. Most of it's very retro," he said. To bury the past, The Auteurs named its last album "New Wave," which in fact was a no wave response to the trend among British bands of reworking the original new wave styles made popular by The Jam, Costello and even earlier acts, particularly Small Faces. Haines is leery of being part of any wave, saying in the band bio that The Auteurs "exist as a fault of their own."
The Auteurs kick off a short American tour Wednesday in Boston playing at the Paradise Rock...