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Sunday, July 06, 2008
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One-Two-Three reviews
ONE-TWO-THREE REVIEWS.... .. .. One-Two-Three Reviews .... One has to wonder why the likes of The Loves are not huge popstars when the music industry falls over themselves to give us the download today gone tomorrow pop stars fresh from the conveyor belt world of reality tv. Capitalism eh?
The Loves have moved away from their indie and jangle pop beginnings highlighted on 2004's debut album and have moved on to a more psychedelic inspired sound summed up on the Sunday Times CD of the week album Technicolor. One-Two-Three sees The Loves going retro with this glam rock inspired floor stomper complete with the catchiest chorus this side of planet Mars. You will be clapping along before you know it! If T-Rex were on the C86 tape this is what they would have sounded like.
The other tracks include a live reworking of 2004's Chelsea Girl, a vicious and nasty tale of revenge on When I Get My Gun and a cover of Jonathan Richman's Pablo Picasso. Whilst they are all great tracks in their own right they all fail when held up against the splendour of the feel good lead track. Buy!
........ www.indie-mp3.co.uk/2007/10/loves-one-two-three.html .... .... ........ ........ The Loves are part Monkees and part Os Mutantes but for 'One-Two-Three' they're T-Rex. It's a stupid/genius gram rock stomper with girl-group harmonies, an air-punching chorus and a sleezy groove so unashamedly retro it ought to come with free six-inch platform boots and a feather boa. Other songs on this excellent EP are the bittersweet 'Chelsea Girl (2007)', a version of a song from their 2004 debut album with much better singing from Jenna while 'When I Get My Gun' is a Dylanish revenge fantasy with full-on Velvet Underground blow out at the end. The EP finishes with the Loves' glorious garage-punk version of 'Pablo Picasso', awash with groaning keyboards good enough to draw comparison with the Music Machine or the Seeds. However, there's no disguising the fact that "asshole" sounds tougher in an accent from ....Boston.. ..Bay...., not ....Cardiff.. ..Bay......... ........ ........ www.soundsxp.com.... ........ ........ Try all the ECT you want, hapless punter. Attack your cerebral cortex with shards of broken glass if you must. But by cannily utilising the ....Jackson.... 5 hypothesis – that one-two-threes stick in your brain as easily as ABC – Simon Love has ensured there's nothing in the entire spectrum of medical science that'll get this one out of your head.
A football-chant simple glam-rock stomper so catchy it makes Rhianna's 'Umbrella' sound like free jazz performed on out-of-tune instruments by tone-deaf chimpanzees. This one will be bouncing around your frontal lobes long after you've been admitted to the Sunset Home for Elderly Indie Popsters.
It sits alongside the country-punkish revenge fantasy 'When I Get My Gun', a revved-up cover of Jonathan Richman's proto-punk classic, 'Pablo Picasso', and a chiming live version of 'Chelsea Girl', taken from the band's first album, 'Love'.
Like a raucous family reunion in EP format, the songs are all different but clearly share the same DNA – melody in spades, spiced with punk rock aggression, and bristling with teenage energy.
"My favourite album is the Velvet Underground's 'Loaded' because all the songs sound so different to each other. We try to do that and I think that's why people don't understand us; we haven't got an overall sound," explained Simon Love recently.
Prepare to carry on being misunderstood, Loves. And, on this showing, long may it continue. .... .... ........ www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk.... ........ ........ Few bands have done the indie-pop thing so well and so literally in recent years, with such knowing humour and melodic mischief, and The Loves are seemingly getting better and better at it. This single sees them going deeper and deeper into literal pop sounds, and the results are fantastic. ........ Opening track here, One-Two-Three, rolls in pop heaven with irresistible call and response vocals and chugging guitars, and the B-sides are equally ace. In Chelsea Girl, Simon Love's co-singer Jenna belts out the lines with the sultry emotion of a lost girl-group chanteuse, all teary-eyed, beatific and grand, while When I get My Gun and a cover of Jonathan Richman's Pablo Picasso are so fitting of the band, quaintly fun-filled, sparklingly musical and smilingly epic......... ........ The Loves are one of pop's best long-term secrets, and long may they continue to reign in the underground desert. Judging by these sounds, there's no more romantic place......... ........ - Neil Jones .... ........ ........ www.musicomh.co.uk.... ........ ........ ....Mixing T Rex and Johnny B Goode, the Loves have cooked up the feel good song of the year. A chorus so good that you'll be singing before you've even heard the song "I love you/ You love me/ we'll be together/ One-Two-Three ugh-huh-huh!!"
The release also sees another reworking of a song from their debut Track and Field album, the simply titled "Love". It's Chelsea Girl this time that gets the make over, whereas last time the lovely aching, slow She'll Break Your Heart was sped up into a French Pop cover of the Velvet Underground, here they do the opposite, dragging it out, almost like Low if they were hippies with flowers in their hair, one to sing along to broken hearted and sat in the rain..... ........ ........ http://www.fatandconfused.blogspot.com/.... .... ........ ....A heady brew of T-Rex swagger, Super Fury's oddness and the jubilant pop-mindedness of The Zutons at their sweetest - The Loves certainly love the 60's & 70's, but this aint no Archies pastiche people - perfect for those missing a little ram-a-lama-ding-dong in their lives..... ........ ....< P>.... http://www.subba-cultcha.com/singles.php.... ........ ........ ....Either I'm in a far better mood or The Loves have improved considerably. Whichever it is, the 'One-Two-Three EP' shows a marked improvement on their recent album. The title track is a piece of fine bubblegum pop, a live version of their own 'Chelsea Girl' evokes the spirit of Nico and the Velvets magnificently, 'When I Get My Gun' is filled with bile and finally Jonathan Richman's 'Pablo Picasso' is as if reinterpreted by Mark E. Smith......... http://www.russellsreviews.co.uk/.... The long over due return to these pages of ....Cardiff.... cuties the Loves with not three (as the title suggests) but four prime servings of perky pop. Title cut 'one-two-three' is so unashamedly steeped in all glam references it comes adorned with glitter, big hair and even bigger boots (shiny ones mind you with stars on). In the wrong hands this could have gone teen tat cheesy thankfully instead it's a delirious dandy of a ditty that manages to shoehorn nods aplenty to Suzi Q, the Rubettes and most curiously the Beach Boys in surf mode and 'end of the century' era Ramones (I kid you not) while wiring into the mutant matrix some nifty touches of 50's bubblegum pop tendered with the essence of Spector while hoodwinking a spot of acutely faux Bolan-esque boogie while playfully cross fusing Glitters 'I love you love me' with the Bay City Rollers 'bye bye baby'. Its about as much fun you can have being all early 70's retro without suffering vertigo. 'Chelsea Girl' recorded live last year at St Andy's Church in Northern Quebec, stripped of the usual full on pop adornments this resonating fragile Velvet-esque finds itself equipped with a superbly statuesque demeanour that shimmers and sparkles amid tenderly crafted reposed 60's motifs. Described by the attending press release as Simon Love's 'nasty song of hatred and avengement' hey we've all been there though some of us are still brandishing the torch like a club with spikes - 'when I get my gun' is a tongue in cheek knockabout foot tapping acoustic babe that for the best part sounds like the Modern Lovers on chill pills until the final minute when all hell breaks loose are things get a little fried to say the least which is strange considering last cut of the set features a faithful re-tread of Jonathan Richman's (him of the Modern Lovers - well spooky) 'pablo Picasso' which is more than can be said for Dame Dave's ill conceived rehash fro m a year or three ago. Buy on sight..... http://www.losingtoday.com........ ...... It's the band's first release since their appropriately-titled Technicolor album. That gained them several high profile support slots, which they're keen to build on. This would explain the enthusiasm on show here. That most welcome quality is levelled off with a sweetness, flowing out over the four tracks. The downside of this is that it can make the record come across as a little twee. While the main singers' lead vocals can be a little camp, their female vocalist strikes just the right note. 'Chelsea Girl' is an upbeat little treat. Both voices are offset by some fine guitar work, veering between chimerical and atonal. While a bit more grit would not have gone amiss, this is guaranteed to ward off the winter chills ahead..... http://www.isthismusic.com/the-lovesmore-1562.... .... .. ..
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Live reviews
THE LOVES LIVE.... .. .. Indie Tracks reviews .... http://www.indie-mp3.co.uk/..:.... .. .. We then headed off to the main stage which was situated in an old engine shed complete with concrete dust to catch The Loves. Even at this early stage the bands were running late and The Loves seemed subdued, banter free and I missed their usual swagger. Playing in front of less than 20 people didn't help matters..... .... and....... .... http://lastnightfromglasgowindieeyespy.blogspot.com/.... .... The Loves - Indietracks .... Full complement this time, its kind of weird them playing in broad daylight in a diesel engine shed. To my left is a bouncy castle. Ahead of me is around thirty of these people from gigs and bands. Nods and brief chats.
Its a more expansive sound than usual, harder even than the ....Buffalo.... the other week. A little shouty too.
The between song banter isn't as good as usual, the blonde keyboard girl who's name evades me seems comfortable and they're comfortable amongst themselves, maybe its just that the audience are so far away and as the first band on, the place is emptier than they're used to.
The new drummer sounds more agressive than the last one, maybe he has to prove something.
All the old hits come storming through, and again my eyes moisten to "She'll break your heart".... www.soundsxp.com.... The Loves look a bit miffed to be on first in the engine shed, which is apparently a strategy to start the event with a bang, which doesn't really pay off. A pretty sparse crowd (the relationship of crowd to bands is in inverse proportion to band volume this weekend) sees them disobey the rules of indiepop by thundering out some great garage rock and throwing in a fantastic Reynolds Girls discopop version of '(I'm Gonna Get) Fucked Up' for a last song..... www.soundsxp.com Live Review .... "This is for Paul McCartney, who died today" lies Simon before The Loves thrash their way through a fuzzed-up version of 'Jet'. It's one of the two excellent covers in their set - the other is a twisted 'Tainted Love'- which is a fingers-in-the-mains direct blast of 60s-scorched pop, with confections like the short and invigorating 'Xs and Os'dripping with melody and impaling you on its hooks. Simon's already written the new album, from which they play 'Ode to Coca Cola', sparklier and less teeth rottingly sweet than its inspiration and which benefits from not having the sampled belch that opens the demo version. This is a rockier and sexed up Loves and there's something very satisfying about something so hard but sweet. .... http://lastnightfromglasgowindieeyespy.blogspot.com/ .... Headlining the night was The Loves. I love The Loves, I have done for about eight years, saw them in Glasgow a few months back with the Owsley Sunshine, in Liverpool in 2003 and heard them on John Peel back in 2000, I even wrote them into my second novel. They've been kicking about for a while. Scuzzy bubblegum pop, with a load of distortion, not quite as much as when Pnos was in the band, but I guess times change.
One thing you can rely on them with in Simon Love's Bob Dylan-esque singing, actually I think they used to have a song called John Like Bobby D. He kind of whines nasily, like a child who doesn't enunciate properly. One of my favourite tracks off of their first album is She'll Break Your Heart, on the record its a gooey twinkly song about heartbreak, a warm hug of a security blanket, but these days its more aggressive, with military drumming, a lot of bitterness creeping in maybe. I guess its appropriate, life's like that.
It took a while in the first few songs to get the vocal levels right, Liz Love on keys especially.
Neat cover of Tainted Love squeezed into the set, and rants about Gloria Jones killing Marc Bolan. They were missing Jenna who does some vocals so from what I gather one of the songs was done by Simon in the style of Mika, a little synth disco, kinda neat, got the crowd moving.
Louder and punkier than the bubblegum pop of old, what would John Peel still make of them?.... .. | The Loves .... | | @ Clwb Ifor Bach, ....Cardiff...., ..17 February 2007.. ..ADD YOUR STAR RATING AND DELETE THIS COMMENT!-->
<!--[if gte vml 1]>.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. ..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->.... | | <!--[if gte vml 1]>.. .. ..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->.... | | ..> ..>.... .. | He's that quiet guy in the corner who's poetry could put the whole modern rock 'n' roll ethos to shame. She's the girl who knows it and compliments it with her very being. The others are their intricate pals, and it's like they've been kicking around piecing together humble bits of music for years and years, which of course they have. They're called The Loves, and this is the party after the party the night before. .... The last time I saw ....Cardiff....'s finest it was like a youthful Woody Allen play in indie-pop colours. Remember the scene in Sleeper when Allen's character repeatedly slips on a giant, genetically-modified banana skin when trying to get away from baddies? Well it was a bit like that, keyboardist Liz at one point memorably copping it round the head from singer Simon's guitar as he attempted to turn up the raawk stakes and swing his guitar a bit. She was wearing a feather, looking blond and immaculate as usual, and it flew ten yards across the room..... Tonight we don't get much in the way of such antics. Presumably the band is more relaxed after last night's industry bash in ....London...., where I hope all manner of mishaps took place without anyone getting hurt. The Loves are not natural performers in the way that the greatest actors are not, and tonight it really shows, bringing an extra ease to the set that if anything intensifies their quaint kind of romanticism. The new LP is an elaborate blast of retro anti-cool, and tonight its songs bounce out of instruments like the greatest accidents in the world..... No demands are made on the crowd. They're just there like it's the hundredth time they've seen it, casual friends, yet enthralled like the most enthusiastic strangers by the sounds. Simon is immaculately dressed in 60s-smart astronaut wear, and he orchestrates with hushed wonder. The quirky modern genius pop classics spurt out in kaleidoscopic colours, I My She Love You, Honey, and She'll Break Your Heart Again abounding with heartbreak, love and affection as we succumb in easy unison. The Loves are a band that can never be totally triumphant, and their insanely upbeat numbers shine with an absolutely irresistible teary optimism..... Then there are the ballads, interspersed between like softer chocolates. The Rainbow Connection, live as on record, is as fragile as a straw house, and the crowd sing along in a hearty effort to keep it upright. Simon's lyrics find their mark, "Somewhere we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me," and Liz's classic keyboard lines give an extra, magic aura of warmth to So Sad and Gimme Gimme The Good Times, both consummate blasts from the hearts of pure lovers..... I suppose being the perpetual support band in their hometown takes away a sense of responsibility that The Loves' music just doesn't need. But it does mean they don't get to play those few extra nuggets that the crowd bay for. I personally wait in vain for the icing on the cake that would be Summertime, a boundlessly brilliant ode to sunshine from the new LP that right now would float me in the air like a helium balloon, but alas it never comes, and Clwb Ifor Bach slowly morphs back to its usual colours..... Back at the bar we all concur: The Loves are a band of magical, effortless poignancy, and their slow-burning legacy should someday yield fortunes..... | .. .... | .. .. | .. .. | .. .. .. Live review from ages ago .... Hey, hey we're… the Horrors? What madness is this? Seven ....Cardiff.... tykes attired like the novelty Goths, swaggering like a ....Bronx street.... gang and rocking like the Monkees spraying you with sherbert-loaded AK47s ? .... Welcome to the Loves. Playing a Halloween bash so belated you can smell carol singers roasting on a chestnut fire outside, the Cardiff sevensome alchemise their cutie pop into a Viking invasion cacophony when unleashed live. On the stroke of one heavy metal intro chord, they screech off in a fuzzbox-fuelled blur of shalalas, singer/svengali Simon Love and guitar henchman Rhys sawing away, heads down, as the rest sparkle behind like the tail of a comet. Like a teen mag problem page they're obsessed with girls and boys, falling in love, falling out, and falling apart, and in their 20 minutes on stage they switchback through a deranged rollercoaster of a set stuffed with enough bababas and ramalamas to fuel the BBC's children's output for a year. .... The Loves shamelessly snatch guitar pop out of the sixth form common room, ram it against the wall at the fifth years' disco and snog its face off. Leaving clever Franz Ferdinand and anguished Bloc Party behind to polish their thesauruses, they fire out love letter after love letter to every 60's girlband ever via the Ramones and the Rough Guide to Cool Rock 'n' Roll Fringes. .... In a parallel universe having melodies so sweet that the Hansel and Gretel house is threatening to sue is earning a parallel Loves their umpteenth Brit award. But here and now, being as adorable – but also as original -as a Beatles wig isn't setting the world alight. The melody/noise/speed thing sabre-toothed C86ers like the Shop Assistants and the Primitives were spitting out 20 years ago. So with vicious/cute being co-opted by everyone from Bratz dolls to the Sugababes nowadays is there really any point to the Loves? .... Yes,sir - as long as addictively whistle-able tunes are keeping chart-meisters like Guy Chambers and Cathy Dennis in diamond studded mansions. Simon Love has Madonna sized ambitions, and wants to blow up his former school and, Saddam-style, replace it with a statue of himself. If you want to keep him out of the hands of The Man, love the Loves and start buying their records. .... Review of F-Pop Fest .... From Soundsxp.com by Paul M.... Being a band split geographically between two countries might defeat lesser bands but thankfully not Cardiff/London six piece the Loves. Naturally this means that gigs are fairly infrequent and when they do occur you cant be sure who from the band will turn up tonight they are minus a drummer and have a stand-in keyboardist. The set they deliver is fairly unfamiliar to me at least, being predominantly taken from the forthcoming album. Nonetheless it is promising with perhaps more of a smokey electric folk feel think the Velvets and Dylan jamming - and a tad less pop froth compared to the earlier material but a few oldies survive, one of which, the sweet Chelsea Girl, sounds better than ever with Jennas gorgeous soft vocals. Plus the self-deprecating banter between band members is amusing throughout. Yes, its damn good to see the Loves again..... And on the messageboard, Ged from SXP said.... "Jenna doesn't just look good, she's got a really great voice too for the slower numbers - Chelsea Girl was just amazing.".... And then Sean F-Pop found these.... from www.tangents.co.uk.... The Loves look like Blue Peter presenters playing Beatles songs having fired Ringo for indecent exposure. By which one can deduce that they have no drummer. Their tunes are pretty though, sung by a lad like a drippy but defiant Mick Jagger who's been spurned for the last time. The sweet guitar plops are joined by sensitive synths and the kind of front-woman who'd make Sophie Ellis-Bextor cry, probably because Janet Ellis would prefer The Loves to Murder on the Dancefloor.
The Loves look like Blue Peter presenters playing Beatles songs having fired Ringo for indecent exposure. By which one can deduce that they have no drummer. Their tunes are pretty though, sung by a lad like a drippy but defiant Mick Jagger who's been spurned for the last time. The sweet guitar plops are joined by sensitive synths and the kind of front-woman who'd make Sophie Ellis-Bextor cry, probably because Janet Ellis would prefer The Loves to Murder on the Dancefloor. .... and then from www.popmusicology.com.... Involved a lot of hanging around. But nice hanging around, hanging around with headliners Bearsuit and eating Mars bars and chicken sandwiches before watching openers The Loves. Who are nice. They look like Blue Peter presenters playing Beatles songs having fired Ringo for indecent exposure. By which one can deduce that they have no drummer. Their tunes are pretty though. .... Those last 2 are very similar..... .. ..
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Technicolour reviews
Technicolour Reviews.... .. .. http://www.75orless.com/?/archive/2007/09/the_loves_techn.php .... Technicolour bounces around like a good mix tape, with some '60s music, some acoustic numbers and some rockers. The Loves have much to share with electro-twee-pop outfits of today like The Brunettes, but that's not what makes them interesting. The ace up their collective sleeve is a blending of sounds that are at times sweet, at times gritty, and always gratefully reminiscent of '80s alternative boy-girl bands like The Vaselines or Beat Happening. - cormac.... http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/the-loves-technicolour.... This new pop collective from ....Cardiff...., ....Wales.... has a deep, abiding love for the most sugary, candy-coated concoctions from the '60s. Tipping their hats to the Monkees, the Archies, Nuggets-era garage rock, and even retro TV theme songs, the Loves just want to have fun and bring back a bit silliness and innocence to pop music. Covering the Muppets classic, "The Rainbow Connection", without a trace of irony is perhaps surprising in these hipster times where pop's past can often only be enjoyed ironically. That's a shame, because the Loves remind us that the three-minute pop song can be a very simple, uncomplicated joy and it need mean nothing more than a little moment of pleasure. There are a lot of catchy tunes here, but "Xs and Os" and "(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times" are the ones that lodge in the brain on repeat. 7/10.... Subba Cultha LP Review .... http://www.subbacultha.com.... Retro pop shimmering in the psychedelic sun of the 60s..... .... Album opener Je T'aime Baby is rather tiresome: the repetitive alternating female/ male vocals where the title is literally the only words; unprogressive until the sunshine guitars roll in lazily and pick everything up, setting the standard for the rest of the album..... .... The Loves are clearly pretending they've never heard Wild Thing before if they're trying to pass off She'll Break Your Heart Again as original material. Try singing Great Balls of Fire along to Honey can't see the difference?! Me neither. In fact, most of the songs sound pretty familiar, to say the least. The Loves take the colour of the 60s and use it to glitter up the modern world. .... .... With most of the songs clocking in at less than 2 minutes, the grueling experience of Technicolour isn't too drawn out. Xs and Os is almost in danger of being sung in tune, nasally vocals distracting from the fuzzed up love song's lyrics, married with equally grating ooooooh, oh woooaaaah backing vocals..... .... This is an album of two sorts. Some might see it as bouncing fab pop, as if the summer of Love never ended (presumably where the name was inspired from); others might see it as a modern slaughtering of the 60s where dreams and colour reigned supreme, and The Loves just failing to come up to scratch - instead being an irritating, high pitched buzzing in the background. I personally find it the latter..... .... www.myspace.com/lovetheloves....
By: Katie Probert....
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. | .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. | LP review from www.aversion.com .... Technicolour
The Loves
Fortuna Pop Records
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.... There's only two ways a band that plays a song popularized by a Muppet frog without the slightest trace of irony can come off: It's either going to be an instant, goofy mess or a lighthearted, yet grounded band with a command of its sound strong enough to tackle anything it meets..... So when The Loves open up "Rainbow Connection," that tune made popular by Kermit and his banjo in The Muppet Movie and don't rely on cheeky irony or a goofy throwaway sense of humor to get through the track, you know you're in good hands. Good hands that lead you through a sophomore effort where bedroom pop and psychedelic swirls come together with a gentle, loving touch that's custom-made for those wonderful times when record geeks and a pair of high-end headphones lovingly stay indoors through a rainy afternoon..... Technicolour shows off a psychedelic flair that's worlds removed from its Elephant Six-chasing American counterparts and indulges a bizarre marriage of influences, melding Velvet Underground-like atmospheres with the sugary teen-beat abandon of made-for-Saturday-morning bands like The Archies. And while that tug-of-war between druggie atmospheres and cartoon sunshine might sound like a silly concoction, The Loves make things work. As gritty guitar tones and big-room ambiances dominate Technicolour's sounds, The Loves play with giddy, almost over-the-top pop melodies, making for an album that's packed with pop sunshine filtered through grimy stained-glass windows. "Xs and Os" sounds like a pitched gang war between The Monkees and Los Campensinos, with Davy Jones' crew winning the struggle, and the piped-in organ of "I My She Love You" helps recreate the teen-safe garage-pop sounds of the mid-'60s without even the smallest ironic snicker. "Summertime" is the sort of bubbly psychedelic pop -- one part classic pop melodies, one part hippie wonder -- that's as easygoing as it gets..... ..> ..>Anna Kapel.... .. .. | .. .. .. .. .. http://www.indiepop.it/bands/loves.htm .... From an Italian website they loved "Love". It's an online translation so it's all over the place....... The love for the Loves comes from far away. More far away than that first album to cuoricini that three years had stregato us ago. E' carved in the DNA of every lover of sixties and that soft variation garages that have taken root on the English sides, giving life to groups in photocopy but also to a underground cult that twenty or so years after would have made to be born unexpected fruits (someone has said Creation).
In this according to job Loves they change all - five members on six - in order not to change nothing. Forced reinventare the band after a intempestivo issolution, Simon Love strongly remains ispiratore spirit and of the Loves plan and imprime its brand to a disc from sapore acid and mellifluo entirety, whose ispiratore principle remains that one: Love..... It is not a case that the place in disc opening is classified to a declaration in French ("Je t'aime, baby") that long improvisation to mò is granted - only piece of the lottery - one of free session: to this new band it served a manifesto.
The debits with the past are carry out to you from a riedizione of "acida and more noisy She'll break your heart", with a prorompente harmonica and one strongly echo to permeate the walls of the study, nearly to reassure that null it has gone lost. And one has not gotten lost not even the main characteristic of the Loves, that one to know to rip the intégrisme garage with sweet bubblegum POP and richest vocal harmonies.
It is in added compensation a lot, like suggest the colors of cover in contrast with the white man of the first album: a small garage-hit like "Xs and Os", mieloso POP to the Archie ("Honey") and a rich of groove and concentrated number on the keyboards like "Summertime", a pair of semiacoustic and floreali unexpected with voice shaking to the Biff Bang Pow ("The rainbow connection" and "I know sad"), a number danzereccio and traboccante sweeping of keyboards to the Bees ("the My She Love You"), even a goodbye/choral good bye and sugar with decorations of it arches ("Goodbye").
All it is in a bloomed field of guitars and keyboards pyrotechnics, riff that they bounce ovunque, choruses and ombelichi to the wind. The disc joyful, fast and - like from tito it - most colorful that gives back the customary image to us of the Loves: one band of fricchettoni with long hats, fascette and pants to leg. And I imagine that the attempt of Simon was just that one.
Welcomes..... http://www.sohostrut.co.uk/poprecords.html .... The Loves - Technicolour (Fortuna Pop) .... Exuberant pop from ace ....Cardiff.... beat combo The Loves, Technicolour is unashamedly 60s-tastic album made with great gusto and energy. The opening track is a Velvet Underground meets Bubblegum pop epic 'Je T'aime, Baby' and is a paradoxically massive tune based around a simple love ditty and a sweet chord riff; the tune rises and falls with great aplomb. The superb melodic guitar riffs are prime time Loaded era, excellent. The magnificent garage cheese pop of 'I My She Loves You' is sizzling good time bubblegum and is joy top the ears. A sugar shaking candy floss fizz of tune with a wild freak out at the end; the whacky organ, is ace too. 'She'll Break Your Heart…Again' is a beat garage masterpiece of Phil Spector style symphonic proportions, The Loves even cheekily sample The Game of Love in the intro. 'She'll Break Your Heart…Again' is a masterpiece of utterly glorious pop. Is it The Monkees?.. The Searchers?.. Or The Kingsmen?.. No, it's The Loves. .... 'Rainbow Connection' is a dainty ....Victoria.... sponge of a tune, with a great lullaby vocal from Simon Love, in the spirit of The Beach Boys' In My Room. 'Xs And Os' is a bubblegum glam stomp and yet another mega tune, making like T-Rex having ruck with The Music Explosion, rocknroll. The Beach Boys/The Ramones surf romp of 'Honey' is a great good time summertime splash, get on those good vibrations. On 'Jazz My Bads (For JT)' The Loves get their knives out on this is a monster R&B rampage, with a nastier trashy garage twist to this tune. 'So Sad' is lilting lullaby waltz pop, the song swings its way into your unconsciousness. So Sad' is a sugar shaker with a melancholy edge, but its sadness shines in the sun. To top it all, the tune ends with surf style knees up, very paradoxical! 'Summertime' is sung by Jenna, Liz and DC, the female cohort of The Loves and they create a good time pop shindig, with some sweet organ grooves. 'How Does It Feel to Be Loved?' is a great portion of pop psyche, harmonies and melodies wash all around creating a sunshine smile of a short and sweet psychedelic tune. '(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times' goes all out for a big sing along song with a gigantic chorus, great pop. 'Goodbye' finishes the album on a short and very sweet note. The girls lead on vocals and craft a sweet bubblegum end to this magnificent life affirming album. Jonny Magus .... http://jecoutedelamusiquedemerde.hautetfort.com/archive/2007/04/09/j-aime.html .... From our friend Lyle... .... OK, ceci n'est pas le meilleur album du mois, rôle qui reviendrait plutôt aux excellents albums de Low ou de Marissa Nadler. Mais :.... 1. Ces artistes ont déjà eu de meilleurs albums..... 2. Ces albums ont eu d'excellentes chroniques partout..... 3. Je fais ce que je veux, c'est mon blog.
Donc, mon album du mois est... .... The Loves - technicolour ( oui je sais, cet album est sorti en février, mais le temps de traverser la Manche à la rame... ) Ce sextet de Cardiff s'était fait remarquer par quelques singles et un album Love ( Track & Field 2004 ) de pop délicieusement rétro et c'est avec joie que je les vis annoncer un nouvel album au printemps 2006. Avec un peu de retard, Fortuna Pop! s'est finalement décidé à le sortir....... L'album commence par un long morceau 'Je t'aime baby' où deux voix se répondent la même phrase éternellement sur une musique qui commence comme du Heavenly et finit en prog-rock.. Après cela s'enchaîne une suite de morceaux courts : 'I My she love you' fait penser aux années 50 jouées sur un orgue Bontempi, 'She'll break your heart again' est une chanson pop épique dignes des 70s... Les influences sont évidentes, venues des années 50 aux années 70 mais la fraîcheur et l'inventivité du groupe crée un son qui lui est vraiment propre..... L'avant dernier morceau de l'album '(gimme gimme) the good time' résume parfaitement l'objectif ( atteint ! ) par l'album et le dernier morceau 'Goodbye' fait espérer qu'il ne faudra pas attendre encore 3 ans pour un nouvel opus..... The Loves : pas un album révolutionnaire, mais un album fun qui fait passer un excellent moment !.... www.robotsandelectronicbrains.co.uk .... The Loves, Technicolour (Fortuna Pop) CD
Late 60's and early 70's grooviness combined with timeless indie popiness, yes summer is definitely on its way. This little delight will help make sure you're ready for it when it arrives. (Laurence).... http://www.myspace.com/the_end_fanzine .... CD Review. Technicolour-The Loves
The Loves come from Wales, Cardiff I think. That's a shame…..Not that there's anything wrong with coming from Wales! It's just that I think that, had they been from South of the Watford gap, You'd already know who The Loves are. The Loves are fuckin brilliant! I can't believe they aren't internationally renowned. Think SFA, Jesus Mary Chain/raveonettes/velvets but with beach boys style pop songs and you're half way there. I heard them on the radio one night about three months ago…it was one of them-stop the car and listen-moments, making sure I got their name so I could check them out on myspace the next day.
So I checked 'em out and loved the songs on their page.(Go on, Go and listen now .. http://www.myspace.com/lovetheloves)
I requested a copy of their album and here it is "Technicolour". Right from the opener, "Je Taime, baby" you know you are in for a treat! It opens with some classic Psychedelic guitars then settles into Velvet Underground style 3 chord strumming, then singer, Simon, laments the song title, followed by Liz, responding with the same line and …and on they go, repeating the phrase with more heartbreak or longing (whichever it is)..With each refrain. The song builds to a wonderful crescendo and then ends in chaos. My fave song for a long time!
"I my she love you" is all upbeat "Louie Louie" keyboards. The pace is faster the mood is happier and at times frantic. It's the sound of the summer!
"She'll break your heart (again)" starts with a sample from Wayne Fontana's "The game of love" and then the drums and guitar come in and stamp and stomp all over it! The song turns into a glorious dark fuzz of guitars and angst-y singing. It's the albums most Raveonettes moment, but I'm not complaining. Its used the same Phil Spector, wall of sound production that just makes you wish you were back in sunny ....California.... …..or Wallasey. Brilliant!
"The rainbow collection", is another lament. It's lovely and charming. Maybe it's not the stand out moment from the album. It could be a grower though, Simons voice is perfectly, fragile for this.
"Xs and Os" is pure rocky horror show 50's rock n roll. It's just another fun, "up" moment on the album. The girl's vocals out sexy CSS, in my opinion, on this and the following track, "Honey"...another 50's style romp in a beachboys/ramones style.
"Jazz my bads (for JT)", has a 60's underground mod thing going on…Kinks style guitar, Animals style keyboards. Reminds me a bit of The Hiss…anyone remember them?
"So Sad" is another lament, and again, whilst charming, seems to slow the feelgood factor that's just been built up….. but wait! right at the end it turns into a shameless, out and out 60's style instrumental..and the mood picks up and just carries on into "Summertime", on which Jenna and Liz take on duel lead vocal……..and backing vocals….reminds me a little of the b52's 1st album,………..sound!.
"How does it feel to be loved" almost goes into Polyphonic Spree territory with a glorious psychedelic style vibe to it, and a Mr. kite fairground solo to boot. Where's me bong? I feel all John Lennon!
"Gimme gimme the good times" carries on this same psychedelic good time vibe. Simon and the girls give a great performance over a pure ....Woodstock.... vibe. Simons vocals are pure fragile in a sort of Robert Smith crossed with Neil Young style. Another summery feel good song.
"Goodbye" see's the girls take on lead vocal on a velvets/nico style outro..Lovely!
I love this Cd. I hate that no one I know, knows them. They should be as revered as, at least, The twang… and viewed as potentially capable of attaining an SFA- Flaming Lips style, sustained success and following.
I think they'd already be on their way if they were from ....Camden.....
Listen to The Loves, they'll brighten up your lives.
4/5. PJ.... http://www.indiepop.it/bands/loves.htm .... From an Italian website they loved "Love". It's an online translation so it's all over the place....... The love for the Loves comes from far away. More far away than that first album to cuoricini that three years had stregato us ago. E' carved in the DNA of every lover of sixties and that soft variation garages that have taken root on the English sides, giving life to groups in photocopy but also to a underground cult that twenty or so years after would have made to be born unexpected fruits (someone has said Creation).
In this according to job Loves they change all - five members on six - in order not to change nothing. Forced reinventare the band after a intempestivo issolution, Simon Love strongly remains ispiratore spirit and of the Loves plan and imprime its brand to a disc from sapore acid and mellifluo entirety, whose ispiratore principle remains that one: Love..... It is not a case that the place in disc opening is classified to a declaration in French ("Je t'aime, baby") that long improvisation to mò is granted - only piece of the lottery - one of free session: to this new band it served a manifesto.
The debits with the past are carry out to you from a riedizione of "acida and more noisy She'll break your heart", with a prorompente harmonica and one strongly echo to permeate the walls of the study, nearly to reassure that null it has gone lost. And one has not gotten lost not even the main characteristic of the Loves, that one to know to rip the intégrisme garage with sweet bubblegum POP and richest vocal harmonies.
It is in added compensation a lot, like suggest the colors of cover in contrast with the white man of the first album: a small garage-hit like "Xs and Os", mieloso POP to the Archie ("Honey") and a rich of groove and concentrated number on the keyboards like "Summertime", a pair of semiacoustic and floreali unexpected with voice shaking to the Biff Bang Pow ("The rainbow connection" and "I know sad"), a number danzereccio and traboccante sweeping of keyboards to the Bees ("the My She Love You"), even a goodbye/choral good bye and sugar with decorations of it arches ("Goodbye").
All it is in a bloomed field of guitars and keyboards pyrotechnics, riff that they bounce ovunque, choruses and ombelichi to the wind. The disc joyful, fast and - like from tito it - most colorful that gives back the customary image to us of the Loves: one band of fricchettoni with long hats, fascette and pants to leg. And I imagine that the attempt of Simon was just that one.
Welcomes..... .. .. 2 reviews that aren't good .... I knew all the praise wouldn't last....... .... The Loves - Technicolor
by Charlotte Otter
The Loves take on 60s pop culture and come out a little worse for wear .... The majority of the record consists of snappy, sweet, jazzy pop songs which- in the proper tradition of the 60s simple to the point of banality and catchy beyond all recognition.... According to popular folklore, the sixties were a golden time of free love, drugs, and short skirts. It was a decade which can be encapsulated by the rise of the womens movement, CND, hippies and long hair. Since then, so many tributes to the 60's clothes, hair fashion and above all music have been made that to be quite frank, it's getting a little tiring. So how can a band such as The Loves, with their take on the 60's pop scene make it seem and different, new and exciting for listeners who weren't even a glint in their parents eye when the era finished?
The answer is, more than you'd first imagine. With influences from The Velvet Underground and 'Headquarters'-era Monkees, their latest release 'Technicolor' at times, hangs around the fringes of the slow, repetitive drone of psychedelica, with shimmering, distorted guitars and songs which knock on seven odd minutes. Far from being a drug-fuelled acid haze take on music though, the majority of the record consists of snapp, jazz-pop songs which - in the proper tradition of the sixties; simple to the point of banality and catchy beyond all recognition, as seen in songs such as the sing-along '(Gimmie Gimmie) The Good Times'.
The Loves first formed back in 2000 and reached a plateau of commercial success with the devotion of fans such as John Peel and Huw Stephens. The Cardiff six-piece claim to eschew the current trend for angular sounding guitars, opting instead for a fuzzy wall of sound, which proves to be their charm as well as part of their demise, as unfortunately the band don't quite make the grade. At times, they seem too saccharine, to meek and docile and although their songs do indeed sound different from the majority of the middle of the road trash floating round the airwaves, it sadly isn't anything new, innovative or exciting..... www.gigwise.co.uk.... 'Technicolor' tries it's hardest to be just that, but ends up more scraggy tie-die cast-offs than magnificent musical hues. Opener 'Je t'aime' is sweet and saccharine, but ultimately disappointing. By the end, it becomes about as alluring as someone declaring 'ich liebe dich' and presenting you with a half-chewed bratwurst as a token of their affections. Achingly 60s '(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times' provides a divine salvation, and is warm, catchy and sublime, relief from the aimless feel of 'Xs and Os'. .... The Velvet Underground are obviously an inspiration worn on the The Loves' finest vintage sleeves, but the Welsh six-piece lack the charisma, strangeness and narcotics to carry it off. Their cover of amphibian pop-hero Kermit the Frog's 'The Rainbow Connection' was clearly an unwise choice: their drab take on web-footed pop translates as grating and dull. Many of the tracks come across as false smiles in an era that simply isn't one of free love, hip-cats and (socially acceptable) kaftans..... There are, however, moments where this really doesn't matter. Skeletal organs and raw guitars drag 'Technicolour' towards a more inspiring palette, alongside the swaggering vocals on more upbeat 'jazz my bads (for jt)'. 'How does it feel to be loved' is a gloriously poignant innocence of skeletal keys and whirling psychedelica. These Magic Roundabout twists prove that The Loves do have what it takes to make beautifully eccentric pop music, but the album all too often gives a feeling of being rather trite and dull. .... Nostalgia is one thing, but it seems The Loves went a little overboard on the Specsavers two for one rose tinted frames deal..... .. | .. .. | ....Manchester.... Evening News .... Nick Thompson
20/ 2/2007.... ON first listening to 'Technicolour', the second album from ....Cardiff....'s The Loves, the temptation is to go back to the inlay card to check the album was indeed released in 2007.
It is, but it manages to pull off the trick of perfectly capturing the spirit of classic sixties beat pop while still sounding utterly relevant in a way that only Teenage Fanclub have previously matched. .... Making sounds first made forty-odd years ago sound this fresh can't come easy ' this album was two years in the making ' but it was time well spent.
'I My She Love You' has a killer 'Pretty Woman' guitar and keyboard riff and 'Xs And Os' is sixties surf pop psychedelia that Brian Wilson wouldn't kick out of bed for eating crumbs.
Throw in the odd touch of stomping seventies glam rock and Velvet Underground smoothness as well as a modern pop sensibility and with sustained radio play The Loves will soon have The Magic Numbers looking nervously over their shoulders. .... The crowning glory is 'The Rainbow Connection', a cover of a Kermit The Frog song from the Muppet Movie. It starts off like the most heartbreaking song in the world and ends like The Polyphonic Spree at their most uplifting.
I await Razorlight's cover of 'It's Not Easy Being Green'. .... 10:36 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove .... | .. .. .. .. | <!--[if gte vml 1]>.. .. ..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->.... | thelondonpaper .... Starting an album with a seven-minute opus entitled Je T'aime, Baby isn't going to do this Welsh sextet any favours. Sappy and repetitive, like the lion's share of their second album, it pillages the sunshine pop of the 1960s, throwing in a hint of Gainsbourg.
There are bearable moments: Jazz My Bads (For JT) could be the Brian Jonestown Massacre (after a lot of therapy), while So Sad is basically The Boy Least Likely To without their bleak and twisted humour. Even if you're deliriously in love, tunes like How Does It Feel To Be Loved and I My She Love You will have you reaching for some downers faster than Britney's swipe for the shaving shears.
If you were doped out in a field of flowers this might sound totally right on, but that would be the drugs talking..... | .. .. .. mapsmagazine.co.uk .... Aptly titled Technicolour, this record harkens back to those colourful days of psychedelia and breezy summery pop. Back when The Monkees and The Beach Boys ruled the roost, and we imagine it was a more innocent and much happier time. The Loves make an adequately retro sound from all of this, but don't attempt to add any new twist to the era they lift from..... So, is there any place for their contribution in our time? Well, you have two choices with this release. The first option is to proclaim it tepid, uninspired and ultimately dated. Alternatively, you can immerse yourself in nostalgia, and simply enjoy it for what it is. A good variety of songs, combining to result in a fun, fuss free, unpretentious and ultimately enjoyable album. It's well observed, full of genuine passion and feeling and showcases a band brimming with potential. It's your choice, but don't dismiss it too quickly..... http://www.tohellwith.co.uk/html/display_selection.php?section=1&contentID=1623 .... ..> ..>.... .. | the loves are a welsh band in thrawl to all things 1960's - the monkee's, velvet underground, even serge gainsbourg by the sounds of it. and there's some great pop music here, the two tracks featured on an ep i reviewed last year - xs and os has great harmonies and i still love she'll break your heart...again with it's pounding drums it puts you in the mind of phil spector. jazz my bads (for jt) is a great stomping rocker and i my she love you is the highlight of the album, superb 60's surf rock with a keyboard hook that reminds me of "louis, louis".
however its not all good news, what lets this album down is it doesn't seem to fit, on one hand they have a phil spector wall of sound but on the other they want to be lo-fi and indie, they need to make their minds up as they can't be both. sometimes they need catchier choruses, their more immediate songs work best, and the low key songs, like rainbow connection, so sad are just dull. how does it feel to be loved? ends up suffering this fate when it seems like it could have been so much more, the piano line needs to be bolder, just needs to be hammered out with a stronger backing and it would be great. je t'aime, baby is a cautionary tale - 7 minutes of one vocal line and a repetitive backing does not a velvet underground make. (gimme gimme) the good times is another opportunity missed, it could have been a real anthem but instead its just not strong enough.
this is a hit and miss second album from the loves but worth investigating if you like 60's retro pop..... | | <!--[if gte vml 1]>..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->.... | | jon
20th february 2007.... | .. .. .. Simon Love A Tosser- Official .... But then you already knew that....... http://www.popmusicology.com/the-loves-technicolour/.... There's an awful lot to love about the Loves. They've had an admirably ramshackle career thus far, cycling members like most people go through toothbrushes and harbouring a slightly aggressive dictatorial disposition on the part of leader Simon Love. But this doesn't change the fact that, despite mass critical fawning, they've yet to start producing the classic pop they emulate so closely. The opening sprawl of 'Je T'aime, Baby', for example, is sweet enough, but never gains enough momentum to be as big as it should. Sadly, (and quite usefully for journalistic purposes) this forms an adequate metaphor for the remainder of the record.
While everything functions nicely like The Monkees conducting a séance, it all smacks a little too much of pastiche. Not that there's a great deal inherently wrong with pastiche, Technicolour just borrows rather more heavily than most, and not in a way that makes you think "cripes, I wish I'd had the ingenious foresight to latch onto that cool thing before anyone else did…". The quotation on the CD's back cover from Rita Lee reads: "We've heard it all and we've used it all". This much is evident, but simply borrowing words from a Brazilian protest singer does not make this entirely acceptable.
The nasal jangle of single 'Xs and Os' will arouse the kind of middle-aged male single pop music fan we all know and love (he looks rather like Marc Radcliffe, doesn't he?), but there is nothing about it likely to afford it classic status in the way its been hoo-ha'd in the press. Similar things could be said about large portions of this album, but it'd just get tedious. In principle there is nothing bad about this album. It's got impeccable heritage and well-picked influences, it's got pop know-how, it's got kitsch vocals, it's got the tremendous bonus of a front-man that's a complete tosser, and a load of other loveable qualities too. So why is it so difficult to love?
Simply, these factors rub against one another in a quite uncomfortable way. When Simon Love sneers his smarmy way through a song, you feel like Mick Jagger told him how to do it five minutes before it started. When you hear a cheeky lick of guitar borrowing from the jangles of Roy Wood, you feel that it wouldn't be happening unless people knew exactly where it had come from. When the doe-eyed boy-girl vocals kick in at various points, you feel The Loves asserting their "it's OK to love pop" credentials on an audience that already knows it's OK to love pop. It is, for all its charms, a slightly unnatural record.
'Technicolour' has been out since earlier this month. PM is a slowcoach and a der-brain for not reviewing sooner. Here's where you can get it, sirs. And here's where you can hear some pop songs..... TECHNICOLOUR SUNDAY TIMES POP CD OF THE WEEK .... It has taken Simon Love seven years and some 25 band members to get his second album, but it was all worthwhile: Technicolour is a pop gem. The Loves are unashamedly indebted to the 1960s, but in a novel twist on recent retro trends, here's a 1960s band who never sound like the Beach Boys or the Byrds. Ten tracks in, they launch into some pah-pah-pah vocal harmonies, but even then it's more Turtles than Wilson brothers. The band claim to have looked for the middle ground between the Monkess and the Velvet Underground, and, incredibly, they've found it; though I My She Love You, She'll Break Your Heart...Again and Jazz My Bads reveal they've also paid close attention to the Yardbirds and the Kingsmen. The ultra-tight riffs and bouncy melodies of Xs And Os, Honey and Summertime are so catchy that, were The Loves a genuine 1960s band, this would surely be their greatest hits compilation. 4/5 ME.... .. .. .. | http://www.exclusivepoint.info/fur-coat/ .... The Loves - Technicolour (Fortuna Pop).... years in the making, Technicolour is aptly titled, with a rainbow of sonic hues to outdo any dream coat. Listening to it is like having your very own pop time machine and The Loves sound like they have made a few stops on the way. Theyve been surfing USA....... 21:22 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove .... | .. .. .. .. | <!--[if gte vml 1]>.. .. ..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->.... | http://www.rockfeedback.com/article.asp?nObjectID=4141 .... From the opening bars of 'Je T'aime, Baby' you get the feeling that 'Technicolour' might be quite a special album. The first song on ..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />Cardiff's The Loves' second album sounds so authentically like it could be taken straight from a Velvet Underground album that you almost check to see if it's a cover. ..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /> .... After seven minutes of this fantastically sparse and atmospheric first number that slowly builds into a psychedelic instrumental, comes a couple of 2 and a half minute pop songs that sound like they must have been recorded a good 40 years ago. 'I My She Love You' is somewhere between The Pixies' 'Here Comes Your Man' and the Kingsmen's 'Louie Louie', while 'She'll Break Your Heart…Again' is a lost 60s girl group classic. After the first three tracks you are firmly caught on 'Technicolour's pop hooks and it is already apparent that resistance is futile. .... Seven years and (at last estimate) 25 members after Simon Love founded the band, he and the current line up have crafted a collection of pop gems. 'The Rainbow Connection' and its breathy vocals is a VU-inspired ballad, which, along with the lonely 'So Sad' and 'How Does It Feel To Be Loved?' (which itself references the same band's 'Beginning To See The Light') gives some much-needed respite from the barrage of instant pop classics that makes up the remainder of the album. .... Two years in the making, 'Technicolour' is aptly titled, with a rainbow of sonic hues to outdo any dream coat. Listening to it is like having your very own pop time machine and The Loves sound like they have made a few stops on the way. They've been surfing USA with the Beach Boys, jamming in the Factory with the Velvet Underground and out on the street with the Shangri-Las, before somehow ending up back at Frank Black's house listening to Monkees records with The Ramones..... Along with the cracking opening trio, the highlights of 'Technicolour' are the singalong rock'n'rollers 'Xs and Os' and '(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times'. The former is a pick me up for the broken-hearted: "Do all the things that you feel you should do / But not another 100 hours with the beer bottle blues / When all the women in the world can't undo all your bad news / Xs and Os for you". Like The Ramones at their most melodic with great backing vocals it is 1m 52s of pop perfection. '(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times' is similarly upbeat and the blow out that the end of the album needs. By the end of it you are already cracking open a beer with a smile firmly on your face: "All the things that were on your mind / Close the door and leave them all behind / Love the love you give, stop the negative and gimme gimme the good times". Having said that, you've probably been smiling for quite a while by track 11, for the line "singing sunshine in the summertime" (from 'Summertime') pretty much sums The Loves and this album up..... That there is little real substance below the surface of this record doesn't actually do it any harm. Sometimes music is about pushing the boundaries, sometimes rebellion, changing the world or a thousand other things, but sometimes it is there just to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. This is an album that does that. There is no angst (despite the band's apparent revolving door of members), just great tunes and almost everything about 'Technicolour' works. From the title and sleeve design that reflect the eclecticism and sunshine of the music, the under-production, the way they manage to pull off sounding like some of the most influential bands of all time, right down to the Rita Lee quote on the sleeve: "We've heard it all and we've used it all". It is referential without being indulgent, psychedelic without being overblown, indiepop without being painfully twee and a little bit French without being, well, at all French. Get ready to tap your feet, nod your head and dance like its any time in pop history you want – The Loves are here in glorious 'Technicolour'..... 4/5.... | .
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Xs And Os reviews
XS & OS REVIEWS.... .. .. Xs And Os reviewed late- diskant.com .... THE LOVES - Xs And Os/She'll Break Your Heart... Again (7", Fortuna Pop!) .... .. .. Lovers of the Sixties, take note: there are some new kids on the block. But no copyists these, The Loves put an up-to-the-minute spin on The Velvet Underground and The Monkees, by way of garage rock and Creation Records.
For their pains, the ....Cardiff.... band received The Sunday Times LP of the week for Technicolour, released on Fortuna Pop in February, and including tracks mentioned here. The band have been through many reincarnations since they formed in 2000.
'Xs and Os' is a singalong ode to a friend in trouble; like The Archies meets Jan and Dean with a psychedelic bluesy twist. 'She'll break your heart again' begins like Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders 'The Game of Love' crossed with the Beat's 'I Can't Get Used To Losing You', then the percussion whizzes you back to The Troggs' 'Wild Thing'. By then, it's full-on sixties bubblegum, complete with keys, chimes and huge beats. Simon and Jenna duel on vocals. Her seductive intrusive refrains remind you of Jane Birkin or Nico, against his nasal tone. The song ends abruptly with a single note.
'My Sweet Drunken Blues for You' is a chaotic jam on a four track that sounds like an early Stones demo. On 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Ai' we get another change of style - The Bees meets the Magic Numbers, if they sung in Brazilian with backing vox that rattle along eccentrically in the background.
With their revolving door membership policy this band have cleverly picked a name that inspires adoration, and they've toured with Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Rapture. What's not to love?
The Loves
Review by Mandy Williams.... http://www.yellowmelodies.com/e-zine/numero9/7/L.htmlloves .... New simple of this fantastic Welsh band, that the same remembers to THE MONKEES and the most luminous face of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, with that sound between beat and the bubble-gum, and a delicious one finished to the Phil Spector. By the face to we have those two gems of pop ("Xs and You" and "She' ll break your heart again"), that will comprise of their second album; and by the expensive b, we have an exclusive piece for this single, "My sweet drunken blues (for you)", recorded in house in 4 tracks; and also a version, "Nao goes to lose itself by ai", of OS MUTANT, with that retro and so so charming air with which they impregnate this group to each one of his recordings.
My favorite: Xs and You..... .. .. http://www.tohellwith.co.uk/html/display_selection.php?section=2&contentID=1557 .... the latest offering from the welsh mark e smith, simon love (25 members and counting...), and they have some pedigree having toured with the yeah yeah yeahs and the rapture. it's all a fairly lo-fi affair, that's strong on melodies and choruses, 'x's + o's' is a short (under 2 mins) blast of rock pop and great fun to boot. 'she'll break your heart...again' could be a lost 60's gem, all echoes and lush backing vocals harmonies, very phil spector, not forgetting the
wonderful pounding drums. of the b-sides 'nao va se parder por ai' (a cover of brazilian's os mutantes), is a great bouncing bit of fun which threatens to outshine the a-sides.... www.vanityproject.co.uk .... The Loves - Xs and Os/She'll Break Your Heart Again EP (Fortuna Pop!)
Twinkly, yet snottily lackadaisical, fuzzy-pop from the Welsh nasal-blues-meet-60s-beat crew. 'She'll Break Your Heart Again' meanwhile has been remodeled to almost Spector-esque proportions, and genuinely sweeps you up of your little feets. All too briefly. 'My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' matches its plain raison-d'etre, with Sunday morning groggy aplomb. To finish a short and very sweet EP is a sprightly, trouser-tugging cover of Os Mutantes' 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Al'. Skif. .... French Review .... http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.bside-rock.com/Xs-and-Os-She-l-Break-Your-Heart.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DThe%2BLoves%2B%2522Xs%2BAnd%2BOs%2522%2BFortuna%2BPop%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN.... Here's a French review of Xs And Os as translated by Virginie....... Emerging from the deepest vaults of the 1960s it is useless to hide that this Loves EP is the best thing that we've heard in - alas - a very long time. That's because it's simply perfect. Fans of the Velvet Underground, followers of the Nuggets garage bible, fans of excellent music, The Loves are maybe THE proof, apart from the Brian Jonestown Massacre galaxy, that our era has now got something inherited from the sacred decade that it can take into the future.
A cheeky voice, a variable formation (already more than 25 members) and four gems for this new recording by the Welsh band who in six years of existence has had time to record two Peel Sessions. So yes, 'it sounds like' since these days that's what you have to tell people - and most of the time it's appropriate and true. So this record sounds like the Monkees and the previously mentioned Lou Reed band, a double influence proudly displayed on everything that the band releases. Well, since nothing really innovative has pleased our ears for ages, we won't be fussy.
What you have to understand with this record is that you will play it from beginning to end - that's about 10 minutes, the songs hitting their target without flapping around blindly for ever - and undoubtedly in a loop. They have a garage sound, which is a hip way to say that it is deliciously dirty and that the melodies are simple. Consequently we love every corner of this dark and falsely dusty basement: the military snare on She'll Break Your Heart... Again, the little bluesy guitar notes on My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You), or the whole of the opening masterpiece XS + OS (big fat guitar, little backing vocals, almost irritating voice).
Nao Vas Se Perder Poi Ai, a high-grade cover, recalls T-Rex' Jeepster in his brilliant use of country rhythms, here slashed with violent electricity, the whole highlighted by ridiculous little voices in the background. That's what is so great about these four gems: The Loves never play the same thing but the bar remains at the high level introduced by the first chords of XS + OS. An essential buy if you've got taste, a no less essential present to give if you want people to think that you do. .... talian Review .... These people LOVED "LOVE"....... http://www.indiepop.it/articoli/singles1206.htmloves.... Forgive the wonkiness of the translator though.... Garages and psichedelia acida dealt English, that is with great attention to
the harmonies, the tendency to the simple and one rigorous ortodossia
sixties. Returned in track with a formed EP seven inches that the sophomore album anticipates, band ago the point of the situation rieditando "She'll Break Your Heart" (already on the album "Love"), and facendola to play like a mix between the Music Machine and the fiendish Stones, with vocal echos Frenchmen to complete the dish. A passage of deliveries between old persons and new Loves not even very necessary, because the group that we loved is still under our in all eyes its colored brightness. In staircase also the stomper piacione "Xs and Os" condito from soft coretti, the cloying bluesettino and Stonesiano "My sweet drunken blues (for you)" and above all "Nao Goes If Perder Por To The", cover fumettosa of the Os Mutantes that dries the saudade between the fog (or is the smoke of the cigarettes?) of Cardiff and then plunges it in an acid sea of guitars and organ. Down the hat facing one of the little groups with the courage of to inspire itself to the Creation rather than to Creation. PS: Ah, does not matter what you will read in turn: the Weezer here do not there enter nothing.
www.theloves.org.... http://www.sohostrut.co.uk .... The Loves – Xs + Os CD Single (Fortuna Pop)'Xs + Os' is glammed up T-rex style bubblegum pop from The Loves. 'Xs and Os' is a superb rampage with a big chugging rhythm and a catchy melody; raunchy rock'n'roll with a sugary twist. A sample of The Game OF Love at the start of 'She'll Break Your Heart' opens up this massive collision of Phil Spectre pop and 60s party nuggets garage romps, utterly magnificent, this is this kinda tune I wanna hear. The easy going ' My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' is drunken acoustic spacey pop and is another ace tune, it's like the kind of the thing The Faces used to do so well. Final tune is one madcap bonkers demented cover of Os Mutantes' 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Ai', where a sleazy greasy rock'n'roll riff is pulverised together with some big grin pop, an outrageous tune to finish this excellent single with. The Loves are a band I'm not overly familiar with, but by 'eck, I'm going a get familiar with this band because they are great. Jonny Magus.... 2 mo' reviews .... The 1st is from http://www.mapsmagazine.co.uk.... The Loves make ever so slightly off-kilter pop music. They are unabashed in there dedication to making it clean, sweet and simple whenever possible. They sing about love mainly; sound like The Ramones, The Beatles and Weezer and are goddamned brilliant at what they do..... There is very little more you could ask of a band such as this and this EP, 'X's and O's' (noughts and crosses? Not a bloody clue) is more of the same. This is a good thing..... The title track idles along, doused in casual relationship problem musings from Simon Love, while Jenna Love's female accompaniment provides the perfect backing vocals. 'She'll Break Your Heart. Again' is as pure as 60's surf-pop gets these days, and is a friendly warning to - yes indeed - not get back with your ex-girlfriend..... There is no bullshit, no flab, no hidden meanings or metaphors with this lot; and I love them for that. 'My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' sounds like a b-side from the coolest 70's band you never heard and is, naturally, about love. Nao Vs Se Perder Poi Ai would have possibly contradicted everything I just said about hidden meanings (it being in Portuguese and all, although that hardly warrants 'hidden meaning', rather just 'a different language') until I found out it's a cover of psychedelic Brazilian's Os Mutante. PLUS, the riff is so darn cool it makes me want to cry..... "Love is all you need" sang Mcartney and crew. This is probably not true, but getting into The Loves will certainly provide much sustenance for those with bedraggled, heart-broken bodies and brains tired from working out what the fuck Joanna Newsom is going on about on her new record..... The 2nd can be found here-.... http://www.tinyvoices.co.uk/cgi-bin/display.pl?reviewid=mat_TheLoves_single_24899.... I can't c+p that one for some reason....... <!--[if gte vml 1]>.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. ..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->.... Xs And Os on thisisfakediy.co.uk .... An odd one....... 'Xs And Os' is the truest mix ever of Weezer-meets-The Beach Boys-meets-The Magic Numbers on helium. It's the drums which set The Loves apart from these however, their familar-sounding vocal and musical arrangement sounding perfectly pure as a combination of the female vocals laid over the male's very carefully.
'She'll Break Your Heart Again' shows The Loves have a clear formula, but 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Ai' proves it's not all the same, a cover of Brazilians Os Mutantes' track, it harks back to Johnny Cash-style rock 'n roll, albeit still with the Beach Boys influenced vocals.
The Loves are good, their only fault being that it's far too easy to list bands with a similar idea: The Magic Numbers, Hal, The Mamas And The Papas...
'Xs and Os' is released as a single through Fortuna Pop on 30th October 2006.
Caroline Charles .... The Loves "Xs and Os EP" (Independent 2006).... Welsh Contenders for Inclusion on Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
With its playground chant of a chorus, the new 'Loves' ep kicks off with 'X's & O's'. A fuzzy chug-a-long not far from the surf pop of Weezer. Imagine a sleaze free Dandy Warhols via garage band land where the guy always gets the girl. A suprising choice of first track particularly when up next is 'She'll Break Your Heart....Again'. Infectious marching drums and retro guitar production provide an overall sound not a million miles away from a distorted 'Hang On Sloopy'. The main riff can't quite decide if it'd rather be 'Louie Louie' or 'Get Off My Cloud' so goes for a combination of the two. Female spoken word responses a la Nico / Serge complete the sunglasses at night, bohemian feel. If only it lasted longer ! In keeping with the Keith Richards homage 'My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' is a catchy, country sing-a-long with all the delicate swagger of 'Exile' era Rolling Stones. This track should soundtrack many a drunken Jagger impersonation. Acoustic guitar, harmonica and (joy of joys) a whilstling intro combine with bluesy piano to make 'Drunken Blues' a pleasing experience. Last track on the ep is an 'Os Mutantes' cover, a brave move which 'The Loves' pull off with much aplomb. ....
Date review added: Monday, November 20, 2006
Reviewer: Jason Walnut
Reviewers Rating: <!--[if gte vml 1]>.. .. ..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->
Related web link: Band website....
.... .... .... from http://www.americana-uk.com/auk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2382 .... Neonbuzz.net review .... Another one look....... Look another Xs And Os review from the good folks at http://www.neonbuzz.net.... The Loves:
Xs and Os / She'll Break Your Heart Again EP .... The first track 'Xs and Os' is a catchy pop tune filled with complimentary male/female vocals that provide a fluffy start to the EP. It's bound to have you swaying as you pick up the lyrics and attempt to sound as pretty as they do. .... 'She'll Break Your Heart Again' sounds like it would be perf | | | |
