*** The Auteurs, “After Murder Park,” Vernon...

*** The Auteurs, “After Murder Park,” Vernon Yard. Since hijacking the glam-rock revival in 1993, the Auteurs have been one of Britain’s most criminally neglected bands. But a cult core of fans embraced lyricist and singer Luke Haines, whose witty, poetic attacks on British culture suggest a cross between Ray Davies and David Bowie.

This album’s title aptly captures its gloom: These are songs about the twisted, forgotten and sick trapped in suffocating situations. Producer Steve Albini makes Haines’ angst-filled guitar crunch in all the right places. “Light Aircraft on Fire” and “Everything You Say Will Destroy You” crackle and burn. James Banbury’s Hammond swells within its rock context, as gothically poppy as a church organist jamming at Abbey Road, where the album was recorded. Eerie because of the context, appropriate for the studio setting, these string-heavy songs are downright Beatle-esque.

“After Murder Park” feels like the Auteurs’ last heartfelt stab at widespread recognition. Because this album makes Nick Cave’s dark obsessions--murder and moral decay--positively shimmy, it just might work.

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