The Loon

Rolling Stone (p.66) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Their debut, THE LOON, holds together thanks to its tight, jumpy grooves, even as it moves sideways and forward at the same time, laying catchy, off-the-cuff melodies over guitar blurts and shadowy near-jazz patter." Spin (p.86) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[They] play agile, herky-jerky guitar rock with wild curves and weird textures, augmenting singer Josh Grier's slacker mumblings with sharp musical know-how." Spin (p.57) - Ranked #29 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "THE LOON is way loonier than it first seems, with injections of cross-eyed country, bits of blues, and whatever else yields the band joy." Entertainment Weekly (p.67) - "THE LOON excites with twisty guitar tangents, an airtight country two-step, and commanding choruses..." Q (p.117) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Displaying many of the wry and occasionally beautiful mid-'90s alt-rock shapes thrown by the likes of Pavement, Guided By Voices and Sebadoh before them..."

今年の〈SXSW〉でも注目を浴びた、ミネアポリス出身のニューカマー。図太さの欠片もないヘロッヘロなギター・サウンドが頼りなさげに疾走する“Insistor”ほか、全編を支配するのはまるでホワイト・ストライプスとペイヴメントとポーグスが泣きながら取っ組み合っているかのような混沌のローファイ・ガレージ。　音はシンプルでメロディーはセンティメンタル、それでいて少々不気味な点はデルタソニック周辺バンドにも通じる。
bounce (C)加賀 龍一