Loop
Along with the Spacemen 3, Loop, hailing from Croydon, south London, proved to be the UK's answer to the onslaught of harsh, guitar-wielding acts that dominated the late '80s independent scene. Whereas the Spacemen mellowed their sound towards the mesmerising sounds of Suicide, Loop gradually refined their fuzz-laden, pulsing guitar riffs, monotonous vocals and increasingly distinctive drum patterns. Loop's music was an uncompromising blend of late '60s Detroit rock ( Stooges and MC5) and Germany's early '70s avant garde ( Can and Faust), although the result was a dense, brooding mantra-like noise, not unlike early Hawkwind. Loop have always revolved around singer and guitarist Robert (Josh) Hampton, who formed the band with female drummer Bex and bassist Glen in 1986. After the garage-like feedback on 16 Dreams kicked off 1987, Bex was replaced by John Wills, who introduced a stronger drum sound. This was further strengthened when James Endicott joined as second guitarist, after the reverberating psychedelia of Spinning set the scene for Loop's impressive debut, HEAVENS END, in November. Alongside a cover of Suicide's Rocket USA came a barrage of layered guitar noise awash with distortion and wah-wah. With a new bassist John McKay, Loop moved to Midlands label Chapter 22 for April 1988's dynamic Collision, backed by a cover of the Pop Group's Thief Of Fire. After the departure of James Endicott and the Head label had compiled their singles on THE WORLD IN YOUR EYESin August, Loop were ready to skirt the national charts with FADE OUT in November. Its sparser, more discordant sound saw the Can influence to the fore, indeed, a cover of Can's hypnotic magnum opus, Mother Sky, turned up on the b-side of Black Sun the following month. After a quiet year, Loop ended 1989 with the powerful Arc-Lite, their first single for Situation Two and for new guitarist Scott. Chapter 22 signalled their departure with another collection of two 12-inch singles, but this time, Loop publicly denounced the set. A GILDED ETERNITY, in 1990, again fared well commercially, and moved further towards ethereal, guitar-dominated sound-scapes and away from the aggression of FADE OUT. Since then, Loop have coveted a decidedly low profile with rumours of a split, with only 1991's WOLF FLOW, a double set of sessions for BBC disc jockey John Peel, to indicate otherwise.