LOOBS - Bubblewarp - Album Review
A band that I earmarked ever since seeing them play in crammed Polyester records show in support of Flour (R.I.P, by the way) after them having blown me away was Melbourne three-now-four piece LOOBS. Their power lay in their ability to manipulate and exploit minimalist approaches to song writing and structure; making hypnotic and droning rhythms dripping with funeral procession vocals that, no matter how upbeat and sunny the songs were, always left a residual dirge layering. When compared with grim lyrics, linear song structures, and jarring guitars, LOOBS had an anti-social sound for anti-social people and that’s exactly how they liked it.
Pressed with the task of releasing a new album, and as seems to be the movement of any band that transitions from Eps to a debut record, of trimming the angular edges into a more streamlined poppier framework is something LOOBS isn’t adverse to. I implore you not to slander them as sell outs because; firstly, they’re not and you’d be an idiot for thinking so, and secondly, it is a case of maturing as song writers and a band. What the latest addition to the Poison City Records roster has come through with is a series of refined punk jams that don’t distil their unhinged nature whilst flirting with pop sensibilities. I use the term “jams” with the purest intention of the word, as each songs builds upon itself and plays off the section both prior to and proceeding it. Lead single Dandelion and album opener Teddy Sherringham epitomise this ethos. The songs refrain from the snobbery of anything overly intricate or technical, and there isn’t any need for them to be. The flow of adding and subtracting particular motifs grant the band a space their simple approaches to song structure is done within an inch of perfection. It’s an iron clad example of how to do simplicity well. Bubblewrap, the album’s titular track, details this; beginning with a mid-tempo drum beat, introducing the distinct spoken / sung vocals, moving from full chord strums to muted notes and back again throughout the first half of the song. Scuzzed out riffs bridge the sections together and it all comes back. It stacks to the rear of this song with a wall of sound hits you as lead guitar lines puncture through, causing involuntary head nods. Clean guitars and those drenched in fuzz begin the sullen introduction to No More Lies as the feedback screeches into vocal tandem. Using vocal harmonies how they have, it shows a definite ownership over their craft and solidifies the perturbing nature of Bubblewrap. The backing vocals, although not as strained as the main. Nothing’s Coming Up (On My Schedule) was the only way to end this record. It is everything LOOBS have done well and everything they have included on this new record, amalgamating into one lengthy curtain call. Feedback wails behind the draping of discordant plucks and the haunting vocals continually ask questions to you before diving headlong into dirty walls of ugliness.If these songs were any slower, downtuned, and dripping in distortion, you’d be left with a sludge / stoner metal record. The cyclic nature of the riffs embed themselves and act as musical Lego, allowing for construction and expansion.
LOOBS may have rounded their angular corners of previous songs like Pingu and Overzealous, both of which I have to admit appeal to me in how stark the contrasts between sections of the same song, they’ve maintained the simple joy in an effects pedal. Anchored by Alex’s yelled / spoken lyrical delivery, the band guides these potent vocals with a demented kind of jangle pop. Remaining tightly woven amongst the frantic nature of these songs, it’s a perfect step album to debut with. If Batpiss had to do a set playing only covers of songs by The Courtneys, you’d get LOOBS
Peep their stuff here: https://loobs.bandcamp.com/music (I heard it’s good for your health)
~ Matt
