How I Learned to Love the Bootboys

How I Learned to Love the Bootboys is the fourth and final album by British rock band the Auteurs. It was released on 5 July 1999 through Hut and Virgin Records. Following their third studio album After Murder Park (1996), Haines started the Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder projects. He regrouped with the Auteurs to start work on a concept album under the name ESP Kids, though sessions halted as Black Box Recorder worked on their debut album England Made Me (1998). The Auteurs re-started recording their next album in January 1998 at RAK Studios in London; Hut and Virgin were not happy with the lack of single-sounding songs. After writing "The Rubettes", the band finished recording in April 1998. How I Learned to Love the Bootboys is a glam rock album that takes atmospheric influence from England Made Me.

How I Learned to Love the Bootboys received generally favourable reviews from critics, some of whom praised the quality of the songs, while others commented on the nostalgia aspect. Ahead of the album's release, "The Rubettes" appeared as its lead single in May 1999, which was followed by performances in France and a tour of the United Kingdom in October 1999. That same month, "Some Changes" was released as the second single from the album. The Auteurs broke up shortly afterwards. Some outtakes from the ESP Kids sessions appeared on the compilation Luke Haines Is Dead (2006); How I Learned to Love the Bootboys was reissued in 2014 with B-sides, outtakes and a live show. NME and Select included it on their lists of the best albums of the year.