I don’t like to throw the phrase ‘Next Big Thing’ around just casually like some people do, but in this particular case I can use it with absolute authenticity!
By this time next year you’ll be shouting this band’s name from every rooftop in Britain, and maybe the world!
The Loud are Lee Pennington (guitar & vocals), Matthew Freeman (bass) and Leroy Oxton (drums). The three-piece hail from the Wirral, which some like to jokingly describe as the posh end of Liverpool. When listening to this band you certainly don’t get any posh vibe.
Their music is… well, loud and dirty with an abrasive guitar-driven sound, thriving bass lines and Mark E Smithesque vocals.
Pennington and Freeman met by going to the same school. As they had the same taste in music, they started going to gigs together. When you live in a city like Liverpool and go to a lot of gigs, pretty soon you see familiar faces at the same shows and that’s how they met Oxton.
Pennington was originally going to embark on a solo career and call himself Lee Pennington & The Loud. Thinking this sounded somewhat egotistical, he decided to team up with Freeman and Oxton. With all three having similar musical preferences, it made perfect sense to become a band and simply call themselves The Loud.
The lads have managed to take the best out of Glam-Rock and successfully fuse it with ’60s Garage and Punk with electrifying effect. Think T-Rex on hot-spin in a tumble dryer with The Stooges and you’re pretty much there!
I first came across this band a couple of months back when I heard their single, Amy’s Gonna Get You (below) – an absolute blinding track with instant appeal that made me practically levitate with excitement. A rock single hasn’t had such an effect on me like this since I first time I heard The Libertines’ ‘What A Waster’!
The band is currently signed to Payper Tiger Records, a new up and coming record label, based in Liverpool. It’s with them that they released their mini LP, Harris Shutter in September this year. This 6-track beaut is a rip-roaring triumph with There’s A Bomb In The House – with it’s sleazy bass and Bowie stylised harmonies – and Amy’s Gonna Get You taking centre stage.
The album isn’t all Glam-Punk – which is one way of describing their sound – there’s a gentle surprise at the end named Magic. I have to say, at first I didn’t quite gel with this track, it sounds a little like Glasvegas for my liking… but after several listens, I’ve become quite fond of it. Hey, Punk (or Glam-Punk) was never meant to be perfect!
The Loud’s latest double A-side, Mother Warned Me About Girls Like You and For My Record Machine is out sometime soon, I suggest you seek it out… Go on, what ya waiting for?!?
For more info visit : www.theloud.co.uk
POP F@CT
The legend that is Jimi Hendrix was hired as support for The Monkees on their 1967 summer tour. He was surprisingly booed off the stage and quit the tour after two weeks….F@ct!