photos by P Squared Photography
Loop @ LPR 4/17/2014
Mr. Hampson made a rigorous return to the basics. His songs for Loop are all riff; they stick to two or three chords and they don't bother with bridges or choruses or transitions, just the primordial effects of repetition and volume as the reverberations build up. Vocals tend to get swallowed in the echo and roar; after singing the verses, Mr. Hampson moves on to lead guitar, still keeping things rudimentary, worrying a handful a notes. The music builds patiently and relentlessly until, by sheer accretion, it grows overwhelming.
That's how Thursday's set worked. The first few songs were blunt and declarative, varying the spearhead of their attack from guitar ("Soundhead") to bass ("The Nail Will Burn") to drums ("Straight to Your Heart") to all at once (the implacable power dirge of "Fade Out")...
...The riffs arrived, adamant and incantatory, while subtleties loomed amid the blare, like a particular salvo of tom-toms or shifts in the tone of the guitars. The music summoned the power of clinging to a simple idea, against all temptations, distractions or frills. - [The New York Times]
Reformed UK dronemasters Loop played their first NYC show in over two decades on Thursday (4/17) at Le Poisson Rouge, part of their tour to and from Austin Psych Fest. It was properly very loud. In addition to a selection of their own songs, they played their cover of Can's "Mother Sky." They also said they'd be back "soon." Setlist below.
We missed opener (and new Captured Tracks signee) Donovan Blanc, but Purling Hiss definitely put the crowd in the right groove for Loop's set. Pictures from their set, plus more from Loop's, below...
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Purling Hiss
Loop
SETLIST: Loop @ Le Poisson Rouge 4/17/2014
Soundhead
The Nail Will Burn
Straight to Your Heart
Fade Out
Fever Knife
Collision Time
Pulse
Arc-Lite
Vapour
Burning World
Encore:
Afterglow
Mother Sky