by Rob Jones
Everyone remembers their first love – even The Loveless! Described as Britain’s best garage rock band by Louder than War, The Loveless could be accused of being a covers band but they are so immersed in the smouldering tension of the material, it fits them like a second skin.
The Loveless are sired by Marc Almond, whose voice evokes a million shades of darkness and delight. Meanwhile, long-term sideman/guitarist Neal X, offers a revved-up exponent of snaky riffs and thunderous chords. The Loveless are further augmented by Iggy Pop’s stupendous touring rhythm section, Mat Hector and Ben Ellis, and keyboard maestro James Beaumont seals the deal.
Serving up the songs that awoke their delinquent desire for snaky tunes played in sordid dives, The Loveless bring you their debut full length album – ‘Meet The Loveless’ -& it is a potent brew of 70s rock, 60s R&B and Garage Rock with nods to T. Rex, Iggy, David Bowie and Alice Cooper. The Kinks moody – ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else’ rubs shoulders with The Sorrow’s – ‘Take A Heart’ & The Shadows Of Night’s ‘Dark Side’ shimmies up against the underground Smoky’s – ‘Hot, Hard & Ready’. Former Sex Pistols star Glen Matlock rock and rolls with Almond on the Bo Diddley classic – ‘Pills’; and two Almond/X original songs – ‘Nothing At All’ and ‘Wild In The Streets’ fit like full moon boys and girls in black leather waiting for nocturnal nuances to begin.
Meet The Loveless is songs for sailors; sluts, wantons; night hawks, sirens; sinners; werewolves; kittens, the misbegotten and the unforgiven.
From a Soft Cell perspective think of their version of ‘Born to Lose’ and the more hard core rockist elements of ‘The Art of falling Apart’ and ‘Last Night in Sodom’. That is some commendation because this was the most creative and dynamic period of the 80s Almond/Ball union.
‘Meet The Loveless’ track-listing:
Wild In The Streets – Almond/Whitmore
Putty In Your Hands – Snyder/Patton
Pills – McDaniel (Featuring Glen Matlock)
Take A Heart – Dallon
I’m Not Like Everybody Else – Davies
Dark Side – Sohns/Rogers
Nothing At All – Almond/Whitmore
Hot Hard & Ready – Condon
Under My Wheels – Dunaway, Bruce, Ezrin
You’re Gonna Miss Me – Erickson
Night Time – Feldman, Goldstein, Gottehrer
Shape Of Things To Come – Mann/Weil
I’ll Be Gone – McCoy/Scott
NB If you catch the band live also expect 70s stage songs such as: Jean Genie (David Bowie), Blockbuster and Ballroom Blitz (The Sweet) and Black Night (Deep Purple). Fair play to Almond he has taken on countless collaborations but The Loveless indicates where his roots were and by honouring these anthems he has done his inspirations, himself and The Loveless a great deal of credit.
