The Loons

THE LOONS’ uniquely, multi-national line-up creates a distinctive sound combining the hard, kinetic drive of European freakbeat with the psychotic melodic cool of California’s Sunset Strip circa ‘66. While the band draws heavy inspiration from groups like the Pretty Things, the Yardbirds and Love, they are also fiercely original in their approach, creating their own uniquely intense songs rather than opting to be ’60 garage jukeboxes.

 

 

Formed in San Diego, California in late 1995, in the last ten years they have evolved into one of the most exciting and original bands on the scene. The band’s line-up features lead singer Mike Stax (ex-Tell-Tale Hearts, Crawdaddys, Hoods), bass player Anja Bungert (previously of the Diaboliks and Thee Cherylinas), guitarists Marc Schroeder (ex-Letdowns) and Chris Marsteller (ex-Chasers), and drummer Mike Kamoo.

 

The Loons’ first album, LOVE’S DEAD LEAVES (Get Hip, 1998), was produced by Ebbot Lundberg of Sweden’s Soundtrack of Our Lives. The Orange County Weekly hailed it as a “masterpiece”, describing the Loons as “a blast furnace of an art-driven garage band ... This music teems with the dementia of such bona fide American whackos as Arthur Lee, Sky Saxon, Sean Bonniwell and Roky Erickson.”

 

The highly anticipated follow-up, PARAPHERNALIA, is the second release on UT Records, the label launched by Stax as an offshoot of his long-running UGLY THINGS magazine. PARAPHERNALIA features 10 road-tested original songs including the wild blues-punk wailer “Turned to Stone,” the melodic 12-string folk-rocker “Follow the Rain Down” and the psychedelic Bo Diddley beat epic “Another Life.”