“Post Everything: Outsider Rock and Roll” by Luke Haines

Former Auteurs and Black Box Recorder frontman Luke Haines has gone and done it again. This second instalment of his memoirs, like its predecessor Bad Vibes: Britpop And My Part In Its Downfall, reinforces his reputation as contrarian, curmudgeon and misanthrope.

And it proves once again that he’s an astonishing songwriter who’s an equally gifted storyteller. Anecdotes involving fellow artists are told with the required amount of vitriol; Pretenders mainstay Chrissie Hynde, in particular, comes across as insufferably self-satisfied. Best of all is the first-person account of the absynthe-fuelled gatecrashing a Football Association press conference - in front of England manager Glenn Hoddle. Truly exceptional.

William Heinemann, 256 pages, €21.15

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