The Loveless have been described as ‘Britain’s best garage rock band and are made up of Marc Almond, long-term sideman/guitarist Neal X once of Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Iggy Pop’s s touring rhythm section, Mat Hector, and Ben Ellis, plus keyboard maestro James Beaumont. The band`s latest album `Meet The Loveless` is released this month and is a mixture of originals written by the band along with some less known tracks from a number of artists that maybe should have had much more attention first time around.
The album opens with an original `Wild In The Streets` a blistering slice of rock and r&b which races along and allows Mr Almond`s vocals full reign. We enjoy a brief cracking guitar solo and some screaming saxophone tinges at around the two thirds mark before the number finally fades out. Next up is the suggestive `Putty In Your Hands` a track that has previously been covered by The Shirelles and the Yardbirds but here it`s slightly faster and has a much more “nudge, nudge, wink, wink” vibe without be overtly sexual. The harmonies and guitar solo were joyous.
`Pills` written and released originally by Bo Diddly gets updated with Glen Matlock guesting on vocals and it`s a number that`s almost tailored for his vocal range and he makes it all his own. The harmonica colors throughout adds a little spice and allows this number a more bluesy, r & b texture. The Sorrows who hailed from Coventry and were briefly part of the freakbeat scene in the sixties have their hit `Take A Heart` given The Loveless treatment. It sounds a little like Marc and the Mambas at times but there`s real angst shared in the vocals throughout. The number veers between a tribal drumbeat with organ to a much more rock out as it progresses and evolves. A delightfully hypnotic take.
Never has a song title been so apt as the band cover `I’m Not Like Everybody Else` which was the B-side of `Sunny Afternoon` by The Kinks. The band really put their own stamp on this anthem of non-conformity and highlight another almost undiscovered gem. Chicago blues band The Shadows Of Night had a US top ten in the mid-sixties with the ballad `Dark Side` which gets updated here. It`s a moody quite introspective tale of unrequited love and I defy anybody to sing it better than Mr Almond.
We have another group written number with `Nothing At All` a captivating blues offering with a superb harmonica solo with tapped tambourine and Stones like harmonic “whoo whoos.” Los Angeles`s Smoky were a kind of underground gay band and their provocative `Hot Hard & Ready` gets a kind of funky-disco reworking and i`m sure would be a floor filler in any club.
The Alice Cooper classic early seventies rock out `Under My Wheels` is given a appreciate workout here with sax tinges, guitar riffs and tambourine percussion aplenty. American psychedelic rockers Roky Erikson and The 13th Floor Elevators debut single was `You’re Gonna Miss Me` and the band bring it up to date but remain faithful to the essence of the original.
A number of bands such as Dr Feelgood, Jayne County, George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers and The J Geils band have covered New Yorkers The Strangeloves `Night Time` who were also were responsible for `I Want Candy`. The Loveless`s workover gives it a real lift with a dreamy sax shared at times and a superb piano guiding us along accompanied by a rhythmic drumbeat. Apparently `Shape Of Things To Come` was written by the husband and wife duo of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and performed by the fictional band Max Frost and the Troopers in the late sixties film `Wild in the Streets`. Another number that has been widely covered by luminaries such as Slade, The Rich Kids, Gary Moore, The Fuzztones and the Ramones. I have to say this version retains that sense of the sixties with an organ guiding us through. A number that for some reason reminded me of the film Barbarella.
The album closes out with `I’ll Be Gone` which was released by American soul singer Freddie Scott in the late sixties. The Loveless rendition is a captivating funky soul version with brass, guitar, harmonies, and a guiding tapped drum and bass line. Marc Almond`s rich vocal range was made for numbers like this as he squeezes every ounce from its deep well. A superb number to close out on and i`m sure a track that could be if not already is a Northern Soul floor filler.
I was lucky enough to see the band perform a fair few of these songs on a five date soirée around the UK just before the year closed out and I thought then is this a covers band? or Vintage rock and r&b. I concluded that who knows and let`s be honest who really cares when they can create music as good as this. There`s a baker`s dozen tracks here for you to wallow in.
I loved `Meet the Loveless` and i`m sure you will to if you just allow it and them into your life.
Rating 9.5 /10
