Loop

Discordant, elusive, and utterly hypnotic, Loop conjured a dark, trance-like spell that contrasted sharply with the prevailing British pop music trends of their time. Touching upon the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:4BFMTELQyWJU1SwqcXMBm3">the Stooges</a> and Can in their sonic template, they resurrected the concept of space rock for a new era in tandem with fellow travelers <a href="spotify:artist:1ZOlVrZ2MtNSY9LcFYklDB">Spacemen 3</a>, creating droning soundscapes of bleak beauty and harsh dissonance. Their initial run lasted only a few years during the late '80s and the start of the '90s, but the three albums Loop created in that brief window drew fascination and excitement from listeners for years to come. Shortly after a 2013 reunion of the original lineup, a reconfigured version of the band began playing live, and in 2022 they released Sonancy, the first Loop album in 32 years.

Loop were formed in London in 1986 by vocalist/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:6cADkvVHnHI8e4YlEE2Cuv">Robert Hampson</a>, who at the time of the group's inception claimed to know only four chords. With wife Bex (Becky Stewart) on drums and Glen Ray on bass, they debuted with the single "16 Dreams," its raw, feedback-powered sound offering clear evidence of a serious garage fixation. New drummer <a href="spotify:artist:4df2PMHIbXTFOqNbKIWi6Q">John Wills</a> was signed on a short time later, with his arrival heralding a more primal rhythmic foundation. The reconfigured Loop then issued their 1987 full-length debut, Heaven's End, winning acclaim for its densely distorted sound.

The World in Your Eyes, a collection of singles and B-sides, appeared in 1987. After signing to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chapter+22%22">Chapter 22</a> label and welcoming new bassist Neil MacKay to the lineup, Loop resurfaced in 1988 with the 12" Collision. In November of that same year, they also released their second full-length, the excellent Fade Out. Over a year passed before they returned to action with the Arc-Lite single, now sporting not only another new label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Situation+2%22">Situation 2</a>, but also a second guitarist, Scott Dawson. After issuing their third and finest studio LP, 1990's A Gilded Eternity, Loop disbanded. A series of posthumous releases, among them the live Dual and the BBC sessions collection Wolf Flow, soon followed. In the wake of the band's demise, its four members split into two camps -- while <a href="spotify:artist:2NLLTF0tqL912ZQiy7zbNF">MacKay</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6WwpiVmAYl31irV9DMiYB5">Wills</a> reunited in the <a href="spotify:artist:2qBuSecbkEALQYs1MTZAF5">Hair & Skin Trading Company</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6cADkvVHnHI8e4YlEE2Cuv">Hampson</a> and Dawson went on to form the highly experimental <a href="spotify:artist:6ndYL76BaiwMAFdrpZsM5C">Main</a>.

Loop's catalog slid out of print during the '90s, but it was comprehensively reissued on the band's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Reactor%22">Reactor</a> label in 2008. Five years later, the group -- <a href="spotify:artist:6cADkvVHnHI8e4YlEE2Cuv">Hampson</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6WwpiVmAYl31irV9DMiYB5">Wills</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2NLLTF0tqL912ZQiy7zbNF">MacKay</a>, and Dawson -- reconvened for touring and co-curated the lineup for the "End of an Era, Pt. 2" portion of the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival at Camber Sands in East Sussex, England. Dates followed throughout May 2014, when the band performed in Barcelona at another festival, Primavera Sound. Later that year, <a href="spotify:artist:6cADkvVHnHI8e4YlEE2Cuv">Hampson</a> assembled a new lineup that featured guitarist Dan Boyd, bassist Hugo Morgan, and drummer Wayne Maskel. Through <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22ATP%22">ATP</a>, the label offshoot of All Tomorrow's Parties, the band issued new recordings, beginning with Array 1 in June 2015. The release coincided with a handful of live dates, including several in the U.K. and one in Iceland. In 2018, Loop played London's Meltdown Festival as part of a lineup curated by <a href="spotify:artist:7bu3H8JO7d0UbMoVzbo70s">the Cure</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:6G7P2EzH5A36ujN9VPm4B0">Robert Smith</a>; that year's lineup also included <a href="spotify:artist:34UhPkLbtFKRq3nmfFgejG">Mogwai</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3G3Gdm0ZRAOxLrbyjfhii5">My Bloody Valentine</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0X380XXQSNBYuleKzav5UO">Nine Inch Nails</a>, and many, many others. In 2022, Loop released their fourth full-length album and first in over three decades, Sonancy. The album expanded on Loop's heavy minimalism with <a href="spotify:artist:6cADkvVHnHI8e4YlEE2Cuv">Hampson</a> and company exploring their sound, at times from a post-punk angle. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi