Loop
Sonancy

The Loop were a seminal group: their particular sonic formula based on hypnotic guitars, feedback, and distortion contributed to the creation of shoegaze. The albums Heaven’s Gate (1987), Fade Out (1988), and A Gilded Eternity (1990), the latter being the final act of their musical career, set a precedent and, at the time, were highly regarded by critics and the public. Although Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 accused them of plagiarism in an interview (in reality, there are just some affinities with early Spacemen 3, those of Sound Of Confusion), the Loop created an original sound (which in their way reworked the lessons of the Stooges, the Can, and psychedelia) characterized by an obsessive and wild wall of guitars. After the 1990 split, Robert Hampson started (with guitarist Scott Dawson) the Main project that fully belonged to the isolationist and dark-ambient trend of the period, abandoning the guitars. Now, after decades of silence (except for an EP and a couple of concerts), Robert Hampson, the sole original band member, decided to dust off the glorious name of the Loop by releasing a new album titled Sonancy. Listening to the first track “Interference” is enough to understand that the sonic coordinates have not changed at all: it's almost like traveling back in time to the late '80s, when I was hooked on garage-punk, psychedelia, and krautrock (to be honest, I have never abandoned the German bands). The first part of Sonancy follows the same path, as confirmed by the subsequent “Eolian” and “Supra.” The second part ventures into more atmospheric territories: the settings are calmer, as in the solemn and slow "Isochrone" and the instrumental and hypnotic “Penumbra II,” although there are also strong and powerful episodes like “Halo.” Overall, we are looking at a good album, certainly dark and magmatic, which revives the cult of Loop and recalls the splendor of the old days. Available on Bandcamp: https://loopbandofficial.bandcamp.com/.