Somewhere between an EP and a mini-LP, and housed in a sleeve utilising the photographic technique referenced in the discs title, this debut from Liverpool trio the Loud has a nicely ragged swagger about it. Opening track and recent single ‘Amy’s Gonna Get You’ is upbeat and insouciant, delivering a defenestrated slice of Bolan-esque bump’n’grind with considerable dexterity. There’s ergs of artfully misdirected energy zapping around the room here in the form of fuzz and squall, and the group seem more than capable of kicking up a right rumpus without having to exceed third gear – as is evidenced by ‘Horror Scope’.
Featuring such fatalistic lyrics as ‘You’re going to die here, son and I probably will as well’, ‘A Little Taste of Love’ is a churning mid-tempo lament that possesses a kind of glacial force, driven relentlessly on by a pounding tumbrel cart beat. ‘There’s A Bomb In The House’ returns us to the Bolan motif, as a T Rex style ‘la-la-la-la’ backing juxtaposes some sweetness against the considerably less saccharine sound of effects strafing the ersatz flesh from a half-dreamed-of glam anthem.
‘Avida Dollars’ slows the pace to demonstrate, unequivocally, that the Loud also have the woo. Enriched by Pennington Lee’s alliterative vocal turn, this is a louché, understated blues/rock infused number that walks into the black sunset across an extended instrumental coda. Final track, ‘Magic’ emerges from the opacity of an echo-drenched, Spectorish soundwash, to deliquesce as a soiled-but-crystalline back alley torch song.
Described as a ‘religious experience’ live, this six-track certainly provides motivation to join the faithful.
