Loop: The World in Your Eyes

Label: Reactor

The final blow in the Loop reissue program is the heaviest and, by its nature, the most necessary: The World in Your Eyes collects all the old London psych-rawk band’s 12-inch and compilation tracks onto three remastered discs, throwing in a few early demos and the once promo-only live EP Prisma Uber Europa for good measure. Hearing this band in all its glory after so many years, it’s hard to remember how I only liked them at the time—as in, not loved. Perhaps they seemed a bit simplistic when compared to, say, Spacemen 3, but it’s now clear that was part of their appeal: basic, repeating riffs swelled into mesmeric events, and the band (which always revolved around Robert Hampson, who later formed Main) never abandoned the raw guitar sound and fistful of chords that drive all great rock music, from psych to punk and metal. Awesome covers among these 27 tracks are of Nick Drake (“Pink Moon”), Can (a worthy entry in the “everybody covers ‘Mother Sky’ sweepstakes) and Neil Young (”Cinnamon Girl"), but it’s all about Loop. And Loop were frikkin’ awesome. (M.L. Thrope)