The Love Substitutes: Antwerp noise, improv, and gloriously skewed pop

The Love Substitutes

Musical Group

Forfans of deus and the antwerp scene, and listeners into experimental/noise/shoegaze-leaning rock and live improvisation.
5 Reviews 1 Definitions 1 Charts

The Profile

Antwerp-based project featuring Rudy Trouvé, Craig Ward, Mauro Pawlowski, and Bert Lenaerts. Known for improvised, noisy yet melodic sets and a HeavenHotel-released studio session leaning on loops, live recording, and playful distortion.

Members include Rudy Trouvé, Craig Ward, Mauro Pawlowski (all linked to dEUS) and Bert Lenaerts; associated with Antwerp’s scene; releases on HeavenHotel (founded by Rudy Trouvé); documented live shows in Leuven (2005, 2007); studio work recorded largely live with substantial improvisation.

Antwerp-rooted project featuring Rudy Trouvé, Craig Ward, Mauro Pawlowski, and Bert Lenaerts. Reviews highlight wildly improvised, noisy yet melodic sets, with shoegaze and psychedelic touches. Their studio work (on HeavenHotel) leans on loops, live recording, and playful distortion. Sparse gigs, memorable Leuven shows, and interviews round out a vivid snapshot.

Notable Quotes

❝ "The Love Substitutes are a band for music store browsers. Like the people that go to record stores to endlessly browse in the collection, and end up buying a CD they already have, just because it is such a great CD to buy."

❝ The Love Substitutes, live, improvise a crazy, dissonant and composed rock, instinctive and clear, brilliant and poetic, schizophrenic and dense, distorted and sweet.

❝ It’s hard to talk about "songs" or pigeonhole the Love Substitutes into a particular style: here are simply musicians who have decided to give their (crazy) creativity free rein.