Loop - Loop

  by Jon Rogers

published: 22 / 5 / 2009

intro

Jon Rogers examines the latter period of the career of psychedelic drone rockers, who have just had their final two CDs,'A Gilded Eternity' and 'The World in Your Eyes', re-released

You always knew where you stood with Loop. Like those Ronseal adverts telling the viewer that the product does exactly what it says on the tin, when you bought a Loop record you knew what you were getting: high volume, heads down, drone rock of the finest order. And these two re-releases of 'A Gilded Eternity' amd 'The World in Your Eyes' round off the band’ story nicely. Reducing the band down into its raw materials is easy. There’s the drone element from the more abrasive aspects of the Velvet Underground (the band did, after all, take their name from one of their obscure pieces). This was combined with the motorik pulse of Can and Faust and the ‘fuck you’ attitude of the likes of the MC5, the Stooges and Suicide. And then they would just smother everything in dry ice and layers of distortion and feedback. Admittedly it was hardly a recipe for innovation, but the band led by Robert Hampson certainly did it very well helping to bring in, along with rivals Spacemen 3, a new era of stripped down rock ‘n’ roll dominated by overloaded guitars. The reissue of 1990's 'A Glided Eternity' effectively sees the band in its death throws. It is largely business as usual and the template is still there. It just doesn’t hang together so well as the previous two studio albums –1987's 'Heaven’s End' and 1988's 'Fade Out' – did. Opener 'Vapour' kicks things off nicely and it all rattles along well. But by the halfway stage of 'Blood' things have fallen apart as its nothing more than a doodle on the back of a napkin. And 'From Centre to Wave' is little better. 'Breathe into Me' and the closing 'Be Here Now' pick up the pace once more but there’s the sense that they are just treading water, really. Fans will perhaps be more interested in the reissue of the 1988 singles compilation 'The World in Your Eyes'. Along with the original release this three-disc collection rounds up a whole host of odds ‘n’ sods and curios. There’s a Daniel Miller remix of 'Arc-Lite', a couple of tracks from the band’s first ever demo and a collaboration with Godflesh. And it manages to reawaken some long-forgotten memories. Does anyone remember when there was a craze for some labels to put out tribute albums where the hip and the cool of the day would have a bash at covering, say, Syd Barrett ? For a short while back in the late 1980s Barrett, Nick Drake, Neil Young and a few others all got the treatment. These releases were always more interesting than good and, while there would be a couple of famous names listed, most would just be filler from some also rans. Here we’re reminded of Loop’s version of Drake’s 'Pink Moon' (good attempt but falls short of the mark) and the much more successful 'Cinnamon Girl' by Young. Neither are much to write home about but show that there was much more to the band than simply high voltage rock. But in their day when Loop were in their element live on stage, locked in a pulsating drone, half obscured by their hair, leather jackets and dry ice they were hard to beat for the sheer thrill and drive. With these two releases back in circulation Loop’s back catalogue is virtually empty but it would be nice to see, if possible, the BBC reissue 1991's Peel sessions compilation,'Wolf Flow', and Hampson must surely have some live recordings that are of good enough quality to put out. Here’s hoping.

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