Loom are an English rock band formed in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire in 2012 and based in London. The band consists of vocalist Tarik Badwan, lead guitarist Joshua Fitzgerald, rhythm guitarist Matt Marsh, bassist Harry Badwan, and drummer Samuel Lister. Harry Badwan and Lister joined the band in 2015. Tarik Badwan has been called "the angriest man to stalk a stage in ages and the owner of the best death stare London." He is commonly noted as having a malevolent stage presence: staring, jumping into the crowd, and other confrontational mischief.
History
Loom released their first single on 3 December 2012, a three-track cassette-only single through the label Heart/throb, including the tracks "Bleed on Me", "Lizard", and a cover of the Misfits' "She". The cassette sold out in hours. On 25 March 2013 the band released a 7" single "I Get A Taste" with a B-side cover of the Zombies' "She's Not There". Later that year they released a limited edition cassette of only 200 copies containing five covers of songs that have influenced them, including Bad Brains, Warsaw / Joy Division, the Pixies, GG Allin, and the Jesus Lizard's "Seasick". Their first digital EP Lice was released on 2 December 2013, which included a re-recording of the single "I Get A Taste" as well as their cover of "Seasick", plus three new songs "Acid King City", "Lice" and "Salt". "Acid King City" was promoted prior to the EP's release and received critical acclaim. The Line of Best Fit said it was the band's "best crack at mapping the crunchy, sleazy garage-rock genome thus far." Clash Music crowned the song 'Track of the Day' and called it "perhaps their most perfect moment yet." On 5 May 2014 they released a 7" vinyl single called "Yosoko" with a B-side Wire cover of "Lowdown." Loom also released an accompanying music video for "Yosoko." Most recently, on 8 June 2015 Loom released a double-A side 7" vinyl single "Hate" with a re-release of "Bleed on Me" on the opposite side.
Musical style
Loom have been classified under the genres of grunge and punk and have been compared to early 1990s bands such as Nirvana. Loom's motivation is not to copy the sound and style of other grunge bands, but instead to be "a credible rock band with personality" in its own right. Badwan has been critical of other bands who he thinks are not "aggressive" enough to be called punk or grunge. He also told Q Magazine Loom exists because they are dissatisfied with the quality of current indie bands in the British music scene. In an interview with The Guardian, Badwan has said he is a fan of cassette tapes because the quality of the cassette suits the kind of music they make. He prefers cassettes because it takes more work and creativity to create the tape and the artwork for it, and because a cassette can also be stored and is more difficult to lose.
