Ghost Trains & Country Lanes - Studio, Stage And Sessions 1984-2015

One of the first wave of great guitar bands on Creation Records, the Loft secured their legendary status thanks to two brilliant singles, a stellar appearance on an early label compilation, and an overwhelming sense of lost potential. This is the third compilation of the groups work and the first to include recordings made during 2005 and 2015. One live session from the 80s is missing, but it does include an entire previously unreleased set recorded in 1984 at the revered nightclub the Living Room. Those early Creation singles -- 1984s Why Does the Rain and 1985s Up the Hill and Down the Slope -- are cornerstones of the classic indie pop sound. The former matches guitars that ring like unanswered phone calls with morose vocals, a loping rhythm, and a lilting melody that feels like the most melancholy Byrds song ever; the latter bounces nimbly, the guitars slash the air like blades, and Pete Astor yelps like hes trying to beat the song to its ragged conclusion. Plenty of bands studied these two templates and did their best to replicate the perfection the Loft achieved. Their track from the 1984 Wild Summer, Wow! comp -- the mysterious and murky Winter -- might be their best song of all. Add to these tunes the nearly equally strong B-sides, and its clear that their reputation is well deserved. A Janice Long radio session from 1984 captures a few songs they didnt get to properly record at the time. Skeleton Staircase is particularly good; its swinging feel and lyrical simplicity foreshadowed much of Astors post-Loft work. The lively Living Room session preserves four songs that would have otherwise been lost; they are solid efforts that would have sounded just fine on the bands debut album, especially the rambunctious garage rocker Colours I See. The only downside to the recording is that some bloke standing right next to the tape recorder decided to see if he could talk through the entire set without pause. The reunion recordings from 2005 are a nice addition to the Lofts legend. Two of them were released as a single -- Model Village and Rickety Frame -- and the other three easily could have been. The songs have the easygoing feel of Astors solo recordings, only with the energy dialed up a bit and the guitar work of Andy Strickland adding a layer of excitement. Its too bad they didnt buckle down and make a full album, but now at least all the songs from the session are available. Their 2015 Radio 6 session revisits three classic tunes in a nicely jangly fashion and adds a new one -- I Cant Keep My Mind Off You -- that sounds reassuringly similar to their original work. This collection is as close to a definitive picture of the Loft as one could hope for; it once again cements the bands place in the history of indie pop and makes one long for the brilliance that could have been if they had managed to stay together a bit longer. ~ Tim Sendra