The Loft aren’t the only band to disband without releasing a proper album, only to return with a greater volume of output decades later: The March Violets, thrown up from the emerging scene in Leeds which would subsequently come to be defined as ‘goth’ released a compilation of early singles in ’84 and split a couple of years later… it wasn’t until the 21st century that they would release their debut album proper, after which two more have followed.
Why this may be a thing now is likely due to a host of reasons, as every band is different, but the recurrent theme seems to be a sense of unfinished business, and itch unscratched. And as is often the case, the legacy of cult bands grows – and grows – in the time since their demise. Perhaps the slow-creeping awareness of mortality is a factor, too: do you really want to leave so much potential and that key ambition unfulfilled? And subsequent albums? Maybe once the tap opens, the stream builds to an uncompressible spate of creativity.
The Loft have the distinguishment of being one of the first bands to sign to the now-legendary Creation, and for splitting up onstage on the brink of what might have been a career-defining tour, and Pete Astor’s next project, The Weather Prophets would again flirt with success for a couple of years before petering out.
Having finally delivered their debut album in the form of ‘Everything Changes, Everything Stays The Same’ some 39 years into their – albeit pause-filled career – only last year, The Loft now present ‘Badges’. Fortunately for them, what goes around comes around, because ‘Badges’ sounds like a mid-80s album, albeit tinged with an early-90s indie flavour, complete with lyrics about everyday relationships (and their failures)
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In the scheme of things, this sounds pretty ordinary, but in context… this is a big deal. And longstanding fans of janglesome indie are in for a treat here. But… there’s no escaping the fact that stripped of the band’s significance, ‘Badges’ is an uptempo, jangly slice of indie that sounds of its original time, rather than now. Ultimately, it’s nice, but not earth-shattering, and sounds more like a time capsule than a contemporary work.
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