ONE-TWO-THREE REVIEWS....

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One-Two-Three Reviews ....

One has to wonder why the likes of The Loves are not huge popstars when the music industry falls over themselves to give us the download today gone tomorrow pop stars fresh from the conveyor belt world of reality tv. Capitalism eh?

The Loves have moved away from their indie and jangle pop beginnings highlighted on 2004's debut album and have moved on to a more psychedelic inspired sound summed up on the Sunday Times CD of the week album Technicolor. One-Two-Three sees The Loves going retro with this glam rock inspired floor stomper complete with the catchiest chorus this side of planet Mars. You will be clapping along before you know it! If T-Rex were on the C86 tape this is what they would have sounded like.

The other tracks include a live reworking of 2004's Chelsea Girl, a vicious and nasty tale of revenge on When I Get My Gun and a cover of Jonathan Richman's Pablo Picasso. Whilst they are all great tracks in their own right they all fail when held up against the splendour of the feel good lead track. Buy!

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www.indie-mp3.co.uk/2007/10/loves-one-two-three.html   ....

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The Loves are part Monkees and part Os Mutantes but for 'One-Two-Three' they're T-Rex. It's a stupid/genius gram rock stomper with girl-group harmonies, an air-punching chorus and a sleezy groove so unashamedly retro it ought to come with free six-inch platform boots and a feather boa. Other songs on this excellent EP are the bittersweet 'Chelsea Girl (2007)', a version of a song from their 2004 debut album with much better singing from Jenna while 'When I Get My Gun' is a Dylanish revenge fantasy with full-on Velvet Underground blow out at the end. The EP finishes with the Loves' glorious garage-punk version of 'Pablo Picasso', awash with groaning keyboards good enough to draw comparison with the Music Machine or the Seeds. However, there's no disguising the fact that "asshole" sounds tougher in an accent from ....Boston.. ..Bay...., not ....Cardiff.. ..Bay.........

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www.soundsxp.com....

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Try all the ECT you want, hapless punter. Attack your cerebral cortex with shards of broken glass if you must. But by cannily utilising the ....Jackson.... 5 hypothesis – that one-two-threes stick in your brain as easily as ABC – Simon Love has ensured there's nothing in the entire spectrum of medical science that'll get this one out of your head.

A football-chant simple glam-rock stomper so catchy it makes Rhianna's 'Umbrella' sound like free jazz performed on out-of-tune instruments by tone-deaf chimpanzees. This one will be bouncing around your frontal lobes long after you've been admitted to the Sunset Home for Elderly Indie Popsters.

It sits alongside the country-punkish revenge fantasy 'When I Get My Gun', a revved-up cover of Jonathan Richman's proto-punk classic, 'Pablo Picasso', and a chiming live version of 'Chelsea Girl', taken from the band's first album, 'Love'.

Like a raucous family reunion in EP format, the songs are all different but clearly share the same DNA – melody in spades, spiced with punk rock aggression, and bristling with teenage energy.

"My favourite album is the Velvet Underground's 'Loaded' because all the songs sound so different to each other. We try to do that and I think that's why people don't understand us; we haven't got an overall sound," explained Simon Love recently.

Prepare to carry on being misunderstood, Loves. And, on this showing, long may it continue. ....

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www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk....

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Few bands have done the indie-pop thing so well and so literally in recent years, with such knowing humour and melodic mischief, and The Loves are seemingly getting better and better at it. This single sees them going deeper and deeper into literal pop sounds, and the results are fantastic. ........

Opening track here, One-Two-Three, rolls in pop heaven with irresistible call and response vocals and chugging guitars, and the B-sides are equally ace. In Chelsea Girl, Simon Love's co-singer Jenna belts out the lines with the sultry emotion of a lost girl-group chanteuse, all teary-eyed, beatific and grand, while When I get My Gun and a cover of Jonathan Richman's Pablo Picasso are so fitting of the band, quaintly fun-filled, sparklingly musical and smilingly epic.........

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The Loves are one of pop's best long-term secrets, and long may they continue to reign in the underground desert. Judging by these sounds, there's no more romantic place.........

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- Neil Jones ....

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www.musicomh.co.uk....

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....Mixing T Rex and Johnny B Goode, the Loves have cooked up the feel good song of the year. A chorus so good that you'll be singing before you've even heard the song "I love you/ You love me/ we'll be together/ One-Two-Three ugh-huh-huh!!"
The release also sees another reworking of a song from their debut Track and Field album, the simply titled "Love". It's Chelsea Girl this time that gets the make over, whereas last time the lovely aching, slow She'll Break Your Heart was sped up into a French Pop cover of the Velvet Underground, here they do the opposite, dragging it out, almost like Low if they were hippies with flowers in their hair, one to sing along to broken hearted and sat in the rain.....

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http://www.fatandconfused.blogspot.com/....

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....A heady brew of T-Rex swagger, Super Fury's oddness and the jubilant pop-mindedness of The Zutons at their sweetest - The Loves certainly love the 60's & 70's, but this aint no Archies pastiche people - perfect for those missing a little ram-a-lama-ding-dong in their lives.....

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....< P>....

http://www.subba-cultcha.com/singles.php....

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....Either I'm in a far better mood or The Loves have improved considerably. Whichever it is, the 'One-Two-Three EP' shows a marked improvement on their recent album. The title track is a piece of fine bubblegum pop, a live version of their own 'Chelsea Girl' evokes the spirit of Nico and the Velvets magnificently, 'When I Get My Gun' is filled with bile and finally Jonathan Richman's 'Pablo Picasso' is as if reinterpreted by Mark E. Smith.........

http://www.russellsreviews.co.uk/....

The long over due return to these pages of ....Cardiff.... cuties the Loves with not three (as the title suggests) but four prime servings of perky pop. Title cut 'one-two-three' is so unashamedly steeped in all glam references it comes adorned with glitter, big hair and even bigger boots (shiny ones mind you with stars on). In the wrong hands this could have gone teen tat cheesy thankfully instead it's a delirious dandy of a ditty that manages to shoehorn nods aplenty to Suzi Q, the Rubettes and most curiously the Beach Boys in surf mode and 'end of the century' era Ramones (I kid you not) while wiring into the mutant matrix some nifty touches of 50's bubblegum pop tendered with the essence of Spector while hoodwinking a spot of acutely faux Bolan-esque boogie while playfully cross fusing Glitters 'I love you love me' with the Bay City Rollers 'bye bye baby'. Its about as much fun you can have being all early 70's retro without suffering vertigo. 'Chelsea Girl' recorded live last year at St Andy's Church in Northern Quebec, stripped of the usual full on pop adornments this resonating fragile Velvet-esque finds itself equipped with a superbly statuesque demeanour that shimmers and sparkles amid tenderly crafted reposed 60's motifs. Described by the attending press release as Simon Love's 'nasty song of hatred and avengement' hey we've all been there though some of us are still brandishing the torch like a club with spikes - 'when I get my gun' is a tongue in cheek knockabout foot tapping acoustic babe that for the best part sounds like the Modern Lovers on chill pills until the final minute when all hell breaks loose are things get a little fried to say the least which is strange considering last cut of the set features a faithful re-tread of Jonathan Richman's (him of the Modern Lovers - well spooky) 'pablo Picasso' which is more than can be said for Dame Dave's ill conceived rehash fro m a year or three ago. Buy on sight.....

http://www.losingtoday.com........

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It's the band's first release since their appropriately-titled Technicolor album. That gained them several high profile support slots, which they're keen to build on. This would explain the enthusiasm on show here. That most welcome quality is levelled off with a sweetness, flowing out over the four tracks. The downside of this is that it can make the record come across as a little twee. While the main singers' lead vocals can be a little camp, their female vocalist strikes just the right note. 'Chelsea Girl' is an upbeat little treat. Both voices are offset by some fine guitar work, veering between chimerical and atonal. While a bit more grit would not have gone amiss, this is guaranteed to ward off the winter chills ahead.....

http://www.isthismusic.com/the-lovesmore-1562....

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THE LOVES LIVE....

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Indie Tracks reviews ....

http://www.indie-mp3.co.uk/..:....

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We then headed off to the main stage which was situated in an old engine shed complete with concrete dust to catch The Loves. Even at this early stage the bands were running late and The Loves seemed subdued, banter free and I missed their usual swagger. Playing in front of less than 20 people didn't help matters.....

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http://lastnightfromglasgowindieeyespy.blogspot.com/....

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The Loves - Indietracks ....

Full complement this time, its kind of weird them playing in broad daylight in a diesel engine shed. To my left is a bouncy castle. Ahead of me is around thirty of these people from gigs and bands. Nods and brief chats.

Its a more expansive sound than usual, harder even than the ....Buffalo.... the other week. A little shouty too.

The between song banter isn't as good as usual, the blonde keyboard girl who's name evades me seems comfortable and they're comfortable amongst themselves, maybe its just that the audience are so far away and as the first band on, the place is emptier than they're used to.

The new drummer sounds more agressive than the last one, maybe he has to prove something.

All the old hits come storming through, and again my eyes moisten to "She'll break your heart"....

www.soundsxp.com....

The Loves look a bit miffed to be on first in the engine shed, which is apparently a strategy to start the event with a bang, which doesn't really pay off. A pretty sparse crowd (the relationship of crowd to bands is in inverse proportion to band volume this weekend) sees them disobey the rules of indiepop by thundering out some great garage rock and throwing in a fantastic Reynolds Girls discopop version of '(I'm Gonna Get) Fucked Up' for a last song.....

www.soundsxp.com Live Review ....

"This is for Paul McCartney, who died today" lies Simon before The Loves thrash their way through a fuzzed-up version of 'Jet'. It's one of the two excellent covers in their set - the other is a twisted 'Tainted Love'- which is a fingers-in-the-mains direct blast of 60s-scorched pop, with confections like the short and invigorating 'Xs and Os'dripping with melody and impaling you on its hooks. Simon's already written the new album, from which they play 'Ode to Coca Cola', sparklier and less teeth rottingly sweet than its inspiration and which benefits from not having the sampled belch that opens the demo version. This is a rockier and sexed up Loves and there's something very satisfying about something so hard but sweet. ....

http://lastnightfromglasgowindieeyespy.blogspot.com/ ....

Headlining the night was The Loves. I love The Loves, I have done for about eight years, saw them in Glasgow a few months back with the Owsley Sunshine, in Liverpool in 2003 and heard them on John Peel back in 2000, I even wrote them into my second novel. They've been kicking about for a while. Scuzzy bubblegum pop, with a load of distortion, not quite as much as when Pnos was in the band, but I guess times change.

One thing you can rely on them with in Simon Love's Bob Dylan-esque singing, actually I think they used to have a song called John Like Bobby D. He kind of whines nasily, like a child who doesn't enunciate properly. One of my favourite tracks off of their first album is She'll Break Your Heart, on the record its a gooey twinkly song about heartbreak, a warm hug of a security blanket, but these days its more aggressive, with military drumming, a lot of bitterness creeping in maybe. I guess its appropriate, life's like that.

It took a while in the first few songs to get the vocal levels right, Liz Love on keys especially.

Neat cover of Tainted Love squeezed into the set, and rants about Gloria Jones killing Marc Bolan. They were missing Jenna who does some vocals so from what I gather one of the songs was done by Simon in the style of Mika, a little synth disco, kinda neat, got the crowd moving.

Louder and punkier than the bubblegum pop of old, what would John Peel still make of them?....

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Live review from ages ago ....

Hey, hey we're… the Horrors? What madness is this? Seven ....Cardiff.... tykes attired like the novelty Goths, swaggering like a ....Bronx street.... gang and rocking like the Monkees spraying you with sherbert-loaded AK47s ? ....

Welcome to the Loves. Playing a Halloween bash so belated you can smell carol singers roasting on a chestnut fire outside, the Cardiff sevensome alchemise their cutie pop into a Viking invasion cacophony when unleashed live. On the stroke of one heavy metal intro chord, they screech off in a fuzzbox-fuelled blur of shalalas, singer/svengali Simon Love and guitar henchman Rhys sawing away, heads down, as the rest sparkle behind like the tail of a comet. Like a teen mag problem page they're obsessed with girls and boys, falling in love, falling out, and falling apart, and in their 20 minutes on stage they switchback through a deranged rollercoaster of a set stuffed with enough bababas and ramalamas to fuel the BBC's children's output for a year. ....

The Loves shamelessly snatch guitar pop out of the sixth form common room, ram it against the wall at the fifth years' disco and snog its face off. Leaving clever Franz Ferdinand and anguished Bloc Party behind to polish their thesauruses, they fire out love letter after love letter to every 60's girlband ever via the Ramones and the Rough Guide to Cool Rock 'n' Roll Fringes. ....

In a parallel universe having melodies so sweet that the Hansel and Gretel house is threatening to sue is earning a parallel Loves their umpteenth Brit award. But here and now, being as adorable – but also as original -as a Beatles wig isn't setting the world alight. The melody/noise/speed thing sabre-toothed C86ers like the Shop Assistants and the Primitives were spitting out 20 years ago. So with vicious/cute being co-opted by everyone from Bratz dolls to the Sugababes nowadays is there really any point to the Loves? ....

Yes,sir - as long as addictively whistle-able tunes are keeping chart-meisters like Guy Chambers and Cathy Dennis in diamond studded mansions. Simon Love has Madonna sized ambitions, and wants to blow up his former school and, Saddam-style, replace it with a statue of himself. If you want to keep him out of the hands of The Man, love the Loves and start buying their records. ....

Review of F-Pop Fest ....

From Soundsxp.com by Paul M....

Being a band split geographically between two countries might defeat lesser bands but thankfully not Cardiff/London six piece the Loves. Naturally this means that gigs are fairly infrequent and when they do occur you cant be sure who from the band will turn up tonight they are minus a drummer and have a stand-in keyboardist. The set they deliver is fairly unfamiliar to me at least, being predominantly taken from the forthcoming album. Nonetheless it is promising with perhaps more of a smokey electric folk feel think the Velvets and Dylan jamming - and a tad less pop froth compared to the earlier material but a few oldies survive, one of which, the sweet Chelsea Girl, sounds better than ever with Jennas gorgeous soft vocals. Plus the self-deprecating banter between band members is amusing throughout. Yes, its damn good to see the Loves again.....

And on the messageboard, Ged from SXP said....

"Jenna doesn't just look good, she's got a really great voice too for the slower numbers - Chelsea Girl was just amazing."....

And then Sean F-Pop found these....

from www.tangents.co.uk....

The Loves look like Blue Peter presenters playing Beatles songs having fired Ringo for indecent exposure. By which one can deduce that they have no drummer. Their tunes are pretty though, sung by a lad like a drippy but defiant Mick Jagger who's been spurned for the last time. The sweet guitar plops are joined by sensitive synths and the kind of front-woman who'd make Sophie Ellis-Bextor cry, probably because Janet Ellis would prefer The Loves to Murder on the Dancefloor.
The Loves look like Blue Peter presenters playing Beatles songs having fired Ringo for indecent exposure. By which one can deduce that they have no drummer. Their tunes are pretty though, sung by a lad like a drippy but defiant Mick Jagger who's been spurned for the last time. The sweet guitar plops are joined by sensitive synths and the kind of front-woman who'd make Sophie Ellis-Bextor cry, probably because Janet Ellis would prefer The Loves to Murder on the Dancefloor. ....

and then from www.popmusicology.com....

Involved a lot of hanging around. But nice hanging around, hanging around with headliners Bearsuit and eating Mars bars and chicken sandwiches before watching openers The Loves. Who are nice. They look like Blue Peter presenters playing Beatles songs having fired Ringo for indecent exposure. By which one can deduce that they have no drummer. Their tunes are pretty though. ....

Those last 2 are very similar.....

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Technicolour Reviews....

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http://www.75orless.com/?/archive/2007/09/the_loves_techn.php ....

Technicolour bounces around like a good mix tape, with some '60s music, some acoustic numbers and some rockers. The Loves have much to share with electro-twee-pop outfits of today like The Brunettes, but that's not what makes them interesting. The ace up their collective sleeve is a blending of sounds that are at times sweet, at times gritty, and always gratefully reminiscent of '80s alternative boy-girl bands like The Vaselines or Beat Happening. - cormac....

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/the-loves-technicolour....

This new pop collective from ....Cardiff...., ....Wales.... has a deep, abiding love for the most sugary, candy-coated concoctions from the '60s. Tipping their hats to the Monkees, the Archies, Nuggets-era garage rock, and even retro TV theme songs, the Loves just want to have fun and bring back a bit silliness and innocence to pop music. Covering the Muppets classic, "The Rainbow Connection", without a trace of irony is perhaps surprising in these hipster times where pop's past can often only be enjoyed ironically. That's a shame, because the Loves remind us that the three-minute pop song can be a very simple, uncomplicated joy and it need mean nothing more than a little moment of pleasure.  There are a lot of catchy tunes here, but "Xs and Os" and "(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times" are the ones that lodge in the brain on repeat. 7/10....

Subba Cultha LP Review ....

http://www.subbacultha.com....

Retro pop shimmering in the psychedelic sun of the 60s.....

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Album opener Je T'aime Baby is rather tiresome: the repetitive alternating female/ male vocals where the title is literally the only words; unprogressive until the sunshine guitars roll in lazily and pick everything up, setting the standard for the rest of the album.....

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The Loves are clearly pretending they've never heard Wild Thing before if they're trying to pass off She'll Break Your Heart Again as original material. Try singing Great Balls of Fire along to Honey can't see the difference?! Me neither. In fact, most of the songs sound pretty familiar, to say the least. The Loves take the colour of the 60s and use it to glitter up the modern world. ....

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With most of the songs clocking in at less than 2 minutes, the grueling experience of Technicolour isn't too drawn out. Xs and Os is almost in danger of being sung in tune, nasally vocals distracting from the fuzzed up love song's lyrics, married with equally grating ooooooh, oh woooaaaah backing vocals.....

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This is an album of two sorts. Some might see it as bouncing fab pop, as if the summer of Love never ended (presumably where the name was inspired from); others might see it as a modern slaughtering of the 60s where dreams and colour reigned supreme, and The Loves just failing to come up to scratch - instead being an irritating, high pitched buzzing in the background. I personally find it the latter.....

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www.myspace.com/lovetheloves....

By: Katie Probert....

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http://www.indiepop.it/bands/loves.htm ....

From an Italian website they loved "Love". It's an online translation so it's all over the place.......

The love for the Loves comes from far away. More far away than that first album to cuoricini that three years had stregato us ago. E' carved in the DNA of every lover of sixties and that soft variation garages that have taken root on the English sides, giving life to groups in photocopy but also to a underground cult that twenty or so years after would have made to be born unexpected fruits (someone has said Creation).
In this according to job Loves they change all - five members on six - in order not to change nothing. Forced reinventare the band after a intempestivo issolution, Simon Love strongly remains ispiratore spirit and of the Loves plan and imprime its brand to a disc from sapore acid and mellifluo entirety, whose ispiratore principle remains that one: Love.....

It is not a case that the place in disc opening is classified to a declaration in French ("Je t'aime, baby") that long improvisation to mò is granted - only piece of the lottery - one of free session: to this new band it served a manifesto.
The debits with the past are carry out to you from a riedizione of "acida and more noisy She'll break your heart", with a prorompente harmonica and one strongly echo to permeate the walls of the study, nearly to reassure that null it has gone lost. And one has not gotten lost not even the main characteristic of the Loves, that one to know to rip the intégrisme garage with sweet bubblegum POP and richest vocal harmonies.
It is in added compensation a lot, like suggest the colors of cover in contrast with the white man of the first album: a small garage-hit like "Xs and Os", mieloso POP to the Archie ("Honey") and a rich of groove and concentrated number on the keyboards like "Summertime", a pair of semiacoustic and floreali unexpected with voice shaking to the Biff Bang Pow ("The rainbow connection" and "I know sad"), a number danzereccio and traboccante sweeping of keyboards to the Bees ("the My She Love You"), even a goodbye/choral good bye and sugar with decorations of it arches ("Goodbye").
All it is in a bloomed field of guitars and keyboards pyrotechnics, riff that they bounce ovunque, choruses and ombelichi to the wind. The disc joyful, fast and - like from tito it - most colorful that gives back the customary image to us of the Loves: one band of fricchettoni with long hats, fascette and pants to leg. And I imagine that the attempt of Simon was just that one.
Welcomes.....

http://www.sohostrut.co.uk/poprecords.html ....

The Loves - Technicolour (Fortuna Pop)  ....

Exuberant pop from ace ....Cardiff.... beat combo The Loves, Technicolour is unashamedly 60s-tastic album made with great gusto and energy. The opening track is a Velvet Underground meets Bubblegum pop epic 'Je T'aime, Baby' and is a paradoxically massive tune based around a simple love ditty and a sweet chord riff; the tune rises and falls with great aplomb. The superb melodic guitar riffs are prime time Loaded era, excellent. The magnificent garage cheese pop of 'I My She Loves You' is sizzling good time bubblegum and is joy top the ears. A sugar shaking candy floss fizz of tune with a wild freak out at the end; the whacky organ, is ace too. 'She'll Break Your Heart…Again' is a beat garage masterpiece of Phil Spector style symphonic proportions, The Loves even cheekily sample The Game of Love in the intro. 'She'll Break Your Heart…Again' is a masterpiece of utterly glorious pop. Is it The Monkees?.. The Searchers?.. Or The Kingsmen?.. No, it's The Loves. ....

'Rainbow Connection' is a dainty ....Victoria.... sponge of a tune, with a great lullaby vocal from Simon Love, in the spirit of The Beach Boys' In My Room. 'Xs And Os' is a bubblegum glam stomp and yet another mega tune, making like T-Rex having ruck with The Music Explosion, rocknroll. The Beach Boys/The Ramones surf romp of 'Honey' is a great good time summertime splash, get on those good vibrations. On 'Jazz My Bads (For JT)' The Loves get their knives out on this is a monster R&B rampage, with a nastier trashy garage twist to this tune. 'So Sad' is lilting lullaby waltz pop, the song swings its way into your unconsciousness. So Sad' is a sugar shaker with a melancholy edge, but its sadness shines in the sun. To top it all, the tune ends with surf style knees up, very paradoxical! 'Summertime' is sung by Jenna, Liz and DC, the female cohort of The Loves and they create a good time pop shindig, with some sweet organ grooves. 'How Does It Feel to Be Loved?' is a great portion of pop psyche, harmonies and melodies wash all around creating a sunshine smile of a short and sweet psychedelic tune. '(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times' goes all out for a big sing along song with a gigantic chorus, great pop. 'Goodbye' finishes the album on a short and very sweet note. The girls lead on vocals and craft a sweet bubblegum end to this magnificent life affirming album. Jonny Magus ....

http://jecoutedelamusiquedemerde.hautetfort.com/archive/2007/04/09/j-aime.html ....

From our friend Lyle... ....

OK, ceci n'est pas le meilleur album du mois, rôle qui reviendrait plutôt aux excellents albums de Low ou de Marissa Nadler. Mais :....

  1. Ces artistes ont déjà eu de meilleurs albums.....

  2. Ces albums ont eu d'excellentes chroniques partout.....

  3. Je fais ce que je veux, c'est mon blog.
Donc, mon album du mois est... ....

The Loves - technicolour ( oui je sais, cet album est sorti en février, mais le temps de traverser la Manche à la rame... ) Ce sextet de Cardiff s'était fait remarquer par quelques singles et un album Love ( Track & Field 2004 ) de pop délicieusement rétro et c'est avec joie que je les vis annoncer un nouvel album au printemps 2006. Avec un peu de retard, Fortuna Pop! s'est finalement décidé à le sortir.......

L'album commence par un long morceau 'Je t'aime baby' où deux voix se répondent la même phrase éternellement sur une musique qui commence comme du Heavenly et finit en prog-rock.. Après cela s'enchaîne une suite de morceaux courts : 'I My she love you' fait penser aux années 50 jouées sur un orgue Bontempi, 'She'll break your heart again' est une chanson pop épique dignes des 70s... Les influences sont évidentes, venues des années 50 aux années 70 mais la fraîcheur et l'inventivité du groupe crée un son qui lui est vraiment propre.....

L'avant dernier morceau de l'album '(gimme gimme) the good time' résume parfaitement l'objectif ( atteint ! ) par l'album et le dernier morceau 'Goodbye' fait espérer qu'il ne faudra pas attendre encore 3 ans pour un nouvel opus.....

The Loves : pas un album révolutionnaire, mais un album fun qui fait passer un excellent moment !....

www.robotsandelectronicbrains.co.uk ....

The Loves, Technicolour (Fortuna Pop) CD
Late 60's and early 70's grooviness combined with timeless indie popiness, yes summer is definitely on its way. This little delight will help make sure you're ready for it when it arrives. (Laurence)....

http://www.myspace.com/the_end_fanzine ....

CD Review. Technicolour-The Loves

The Loves come from Wales, Cardiff I think. That's a shame…..Not that there's anything wrong with coming from Wales! It's just that I think that, had they been from South of the Watford gap, You'd already know who The Loves are. The Loves are fuckin brilliant! I can't believe they aren't internationally renowned. Think SFA, Jesus Mary Chain/raveonettes/velvets but with beach boys style pop songs and you're half way there. I heard them on the radio one night about three months ago…it was one of them-stop the car and listen-moments, making sure I got their name so I could check them out on myspace the next day.
So I checked 'em out and loved the songs on their page.(Go on, Go and listen now .. http://www.myspace.com/lovetheloves)

I requested a copy of their album and here it is "Technicolour". Right from the opener, "Je Taime, baby" you know you are in for a treat! It opens with some classic Psychedelic guitars then settles into Velvet Underground style 3 chord strumming, then singer, Simon, laments the song title, followed by Liz, responding with the same line and …and on they go, repeating the phrase with more heartbreak or longing (whichever it is)..With each refrain. The song builds to a wonderful crescendo and then ends in chaos. My fave song for a long time!
"I my she love you" is all upbeat "Louie Louie" keyboards. The pace is faster the mood is happier and at times frantic. It's the sound of the summer!
"She'll break your heart (again)" starts with a sample from Wayne Fontana's "The game of love" and then the drums and guitar come in and stamp and stomp all over it! The song turns into a glorious dark fuzz of guitars and angst-y singing. It's the albums most Raveonettes moment, but I'm not complaining. Its used the same Phil Spector, wall of sound production that just makes you wish you were back in sunny ....California.... …..or Wallasey. Brilliant!
"The rainbow collection", is another lament. It's lovely and charming. Maybe it's not the stand out moment from the album. It could be a grower though, Simons voice is perfectly, fragile for this.
"Xs and Os" is pure rocky horror show 50's rock n roll. It's just another fun, "up" moment on the album. The girl's vocals out sexy CSS, in my opinion, on this and the following track, "Honey"...another 50's style romp in a beachboys/ramones style.
"Jazz my bads (for JT)", has a 60's underground mod thing going on…Kinks style guitar, Animals style keyboards. Reminds me a bit of The Hiss…anyone remember them?
"So Sad" is another lament, and again, whilst charming, seems to slow the feelgood factor that's just been built up….. but wait! right at the end it turns into a shameless, out and out 60's style instrumental..and the mood picks up and just carries on into "Summertime", on which Jenna and Liz take on duel lead vocal……..and backing vocals….reminds me a little of the b52's 1st album,………..sound!.
"How does it feel to be loved" almost goes into Polyphonic Spree territory with a glorious psychedelic style vibe to it, and a Mr. kite fairground solo to boot. Where's me bong? I feel all John Lennon!
"Gimme gimme the good times" carries on this same psychedelic good time vibe. Simon and the girls give a great performance over a pure ....Woodstock.... vibe. Simons vocals are pure fragile in a sort of Robert Smith crossed with Neil Young style. Another summery feel good song.
"Goodbye" see's the girls take on lead vocal on a velvets/nico style outro..Lovely!

I love this Cd. I hate that no one I know, knows them. They should be as revered as, at least, The twang… and viewed as potentially capable of attaining an SFA- Flaming Lips style, sustained success and following.
I think they'd already be on their way if they were from ....Camden.....

Listen to The Loves, they'll brighten up your lives.
4/5. PJ....

http://www.indiepop.it/bands/loves.htm ....

From an Italian website they loved "Love". It's an online translation so it's all over the place.......

The love for the Loves comes from far away. More far away than that first album to cuoricini that three years had stregato us ago. E' carved in the DNA of every lover of sixties and that soft variation garages that have taken root on the English sides, giving life to groups in photocopy but also to a underground cult that twenty or so years after would have made to be born unexpected fruits (someone has said Creation).
In this according to job Loves they change all - five members on six - in order not to change nothing. Forced reinventare the band after a intempestivo issolution, Simon Love strongly remains ispiratore spirit and of the Loves plan and imprime its brand to a disc from sapore acid and mellifluo entirety, whose ispiratore principle remains that one: Love.....

It is not a case that the place in disc opening is classified to a declaration in French ("Je t'aime, baby") that long improvisation to mò is granted - only piece of the lottery - one of free session: to this new band it served a manifesto.
The debits with the past are carry out to you from a riedizione of "acida and more noisy She'll break your heart", with a prorompente harmonica and one strongly echo to permeate the walls of the study, nearly to reassure that null it has gone lost. And one has not gotten lost not even the main characteristic of the Loves, that one to know to rip the intégrisme garage with sweet bubblegum POP and richest vocal harmonies.
It is in added compensation a lot, like suggest the colors of cover in contrast with the white man of the first album: a small garage-hit like "Xs and Os", mieloso POP to the Archie ("Honey") and a rich of groove and concentrated number on the keyboards like "Summertime", a pair of semiacoustic and floreali unexpected with voice shaking to the Biff Bang Pow ("The rainbow connection" and "I know sad"), a number danzereccio and traboccante sweeping of keyboards to the Bees ("the My She Love You"), even a goodbye/choral good bye and sugar with decorations of it arches ("Goodbye").
All it is in a bloomed field of guitars and keyboards pyrotechnics, riff that they bounce ovunque, choruses and ombelichi to the wind. The disc joyful, fast and - like from tito it - most colorful that gives back the customary image to us of the Loves: one band of fricchettoni with long hats, fascette and pants to leg. And I imagine that the attempt of Simon was just that one.
Welcomes.....

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2 reviews that aren't good ....

I knew all the praise wouldn't last.......

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The Loves - Technicolor
by Charlotte Otter
The Loves take on 60s pop culture and come out a little worse for wear ....

The majority of the record consists of snappy, sweet, jazzy pop songs which- in the proper tradition of the 60s simple to the point of banality and catchy beyond all recognition....

According to popular folklore, the sixties were a golden time of free love, drugs, and short skirts. It was a decade which can be encapsulated by the rise of the womens movement, CND, hippies and long hair. Since then, so many tributes to the 60's clothes, hair fashion and above all music have been made that to be quite frank, it's getting a little tiring. So how can a band such as The Loves, with their take on the 60's pop scene make it seem and different, new and exciting for listeners who weren't even a glint in their parents eye when the era finished?

The answer is, more than you'd first imagine. With influences from The Velvet Underground and 'Headquarters'-era Monkees, their latest release 'Technicolor' at times, hangs around the fringes of the slow, repetitive drone of psychedelica, with shimmering, distorted guitars and songs which knock on seven odd minutes. Far from being a drug-fuelled acid haze take on music though, the majority of the record consists of snapp, jazz-pop songs which - in the proper tradition of the sixties; simple to the point of banality and catchy beyond all recognition, as seen in songs such as the sing-along '(Gimmie Gimmie) The Good Times'.

The Loves first formed back in 2000 and reached a plateau of commercial success with the devotion of fans such as John Peel and Huw Stephens. The Cardiff six-piece claim to eschew the current trend for angular sounding guitars, opting instead for a fuzzy wall of sound, which proves to be their charm as well as part of their demise, as unfortunately the band don't quite make the grade. At times, they seem too saccharine, to meek and docile and although their songs do indeed sound different from the majority of the middle of the road trash floating round the airwaves, it sadly isn't anything new, innovative or exciting.....

www.gigwise.co.uk....

'Technicolor' tries it's hardest to be just that, but ends up more scraggy tie-die cast-offs than magnificent musical hues. Opener 'Je t'aime' is sweet and saccharine, but ultimately disappointing. By the end, it becomes about as alluring as someone declaring 'ich liebe dich' and presenting you with a half-chewed bratwurst as a token of their affections. Achingly 60s '(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times' provides a divine salvation, and is warm, catchy and sublime, relief from the aimless feel of 'Xs and Os'. ....

The Velvet Underground are obviously an inspiration worn on the The Loves' finest vintage sleeves, but the Welsh six-piece lack the charisma, strangeness and narcotics to carry it off. Their cover of amphibian pop-hero Kermit the Frog's 'The Rainbow Connection' was clearly an unwise choice: their drab take on web-footed pop translates as grating and dull. Many of the tracks come across as false smiles in an era that simply isn't one of free love, hip-cats and (socially acceptable) kaftans.....

There are, however, moments where this really doesn't matter. Skeletal organs and raw guitars drag 'Technicolour' towards a more inspiring palette, alongside the swaggering vocals on more upbeat 'jazz my bads (for jt)'. 'How does it feel to be loved' is a gloriously poignant innocence of skeletal keys and whirling psychedelica. These Magic Roundabout twists prove that The Loves do have what it takes to make beautifully eccentric pop music, but the album all too often gives a feeling of being rather trite and dull. ....

Nostalgia is one thing, but it seems The Loves went a little overboard on the Specsavers two for one rose tinted frames deal.....

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mapsmagazine.co.uk ....

Aptly titled Technicolour, this record harkens back to those colourful days of psychedelia and breezy summery pop. Back when The Monkees and The Beach Boys ruled the roost, and we imagine it was a more innocent and much happier time. The Loves make an adequately retro sound from all of this, but don't attempt to add any new twist to the era they lift from.....

So, is there any place for their contribution in our time? Well, you have two choices with this release. The first option is to proclaim it tepid, uninspired and ultimately dated. Alternatively, you can immerse yourself in nostalgia, and simply enjoy it for what it is. A good variety of songs, combining to result in a fun, fuss free, unpretentious and ultimately enjoyable album. It's well observed, full of genuine passion and feeling and showcases a band brimming with potential. It's your choice, but don't dismiss it too quickly.....

http://www.tohellwith.co.uk/html/display_selection.php?section=1&contentID=1623 ....

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Simon Love A Tosser- Official ....

But then you already knew that.......

http://www.popmusicology.com/the-loves-technicolour/....

There's an awful lot to love about the Loves. They've had an admirably ramshackle career thus far, cycling members like most people go through toothbrushes and harbouring a slightly aggressive dictatorial disposition on the part of leader Simon Love. But this doesn't change the fact that, despite mass critical fawning, they've yet to start producing the classic pop they emulate so closely. The opening sprawl of 'Je T'aime, Baby', for example, is sweet enough, but never gains enough momentum to be as big as it should. Sadly, (and quite usefully for journalistic purposes) this forms an adequate metaphor for the remainder of the record.

While everything functions nicely like The Monkees conducting a séance, it all smacks a little too much of pastiche. Not that there's a great deal inherently wrong with pastiche, Technicolour just borrows rather more heavily than most, and not in a way that makes you think "cripes, I wish I'd had the ingenious foresight to latch onto that cool thing before anyone else did…". The quotation on the CD's back cover from Rita Lee reads: "We've heard it all and we've used it all". This much is evident, but simply borrowing words from a Brazilian protest singer does not make this entirely acceptable.

The nasal jangle of single 'Xs and Os' will arouse the kind of middle-aged male single pop music fan we all know and love (he looks rather like Marc Radcliffe, doesn't he?), but there is nothing about it likely to afford it classic status in the way its been hoo-ha'd in the press. Similar things could be said about large portions of this album, but it'd just get tedious. In principle there is nothing bad about this album. It's got impeccable heritage and well-picked influences, it's got pop know-how, it's got kitsch vocals, it's got the tremendous bonus of a front-man that's a complete tosser, and a load of other loveable qualities too. So why is it so difficult to love?

Simply, these factors rub against one another in a quite uncomfortable way. When Simon Love sneers his smarmy way through a song, you feel like Mick Jagger told him how to do it five minutes before it started. When you hear a cheeky lick of guitar borrowing from the jangles of Roy Wood, you feel that it wouldn't be happening unless people knew exactly where it had come from. When the doe-eyed boy-girl vocals kick in at various points, you feel The Loves asserting their "it's OK to love pop" credentials on an audience that already knows it's OK to love pop. It is, for all its charms, a slightly unnatural record.

'Technicolour' has been out since earlier this month. PM is a slowcoach and a der-brain for not reviewing sooner. Here's where you can get it, sirs. And here's where you can hear some pop songs.....

TECHNICOLOUR SUNDAY TIMES POP CD OF THE WEEK ....

It has taken Simon Love seven years and some 25 band members to get his second album, but it was all worthwhile: Technicolour is a pop gem. The Loves are unashamedly indebted to the 1960s, but in a novel twist on recent retro trends, here's a 1960s band who never sound like the Beach Boys or the Byrds. Ten tracks in, they launch into some pah-pah-pah vocal harmonies, but even then it's more Turtles than Wilson brothers. The band claim to have looked for the middle ground between the Monkess and the Velvet Underground, and, incredibly, they've found it; though I My She Love You, She'll Break Your Heart...Again and Jazz My Bads reveal they've also paid close attention to the Yardbirds and the Kingsmen. The ultra-tight riffs and bouncy melodies of Xs And Os, Honey and Summertime are so catchy that, were The Loves a genuine 1960s band, this would surely be their greatest hits compilation. 4/5 ME....

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XS & OS REVIEWS....

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Xs And Os reviewed late- diskant.com ....

THE LOVES - Xs And Os/She'll Break Your Heart... Again (7", Fortuna Pop!) ....

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Lovers of the Sixties, take note: there are some new kids on the block. But no copyists these, The Loves put an up-to-the-minute spin on The Velvet Underground and The Monkees, by way of garage rock and Creation Records.

For their pains, the ....Cardiff.... band received The Sunday Times LP of the week for Technicolour, released on Fortuna Pop in February, and including tracks mentioned here. The band have been through many reincarnations since they formed in 2000.

'Xs and Os' is a singalong ode to a friend in trouble; like The Archies meets Jan and Dean with a psychedelic bluesy twist. 'She'll break your heart again' begins like Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders 'The Game of Love' crossed with the Beat's 'I Can't Get Used To Losing You', then the percussion whizzes you back to The Troggs' 'Wild Thing'. By then, it's full-on sixties bubblegum, complete with keys, chimes and huge beats. Simon and Jenna duel on vocals. Her seductive intrusive refrains remind you of Jane Birkin or Nico, against his nasal tone. The song ends abruptly with a single note.

'My Sweet Drunken Blues for You' is a chaotic jam on a four track that sounds like an early Stones demo. On 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Ai' we get another change of style - The Bees meets the Magic Numbers, if they sung in Brazilian with backing vox that rattle along eccentrically in the background.

With their revolving door membership policy this band have cleverly picked a name that inspires adoration, and they've toured with Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Rapture. What's not to love?

The Loves

Review by Mandy Williams....

http://www.yellowmelodies.com/e-zine/numero9/7/L.htmlloves ....

New simple of this fantastic Welsh band, that the same remembers to THE MONKEES and the most luminous face of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, with that sound between beat and the bubble-gum, and a delicious one finished to the Phil Spector. By the face to we have those two gems of pop ("Xs and You" and "She' ll break your heart again"), that will comprise of their second album; and by the expensive b, we have an exclusive piece for this single, "My sweet drunken blues (for you)", recorded in house in 4 tracks; and also a version, "Nao goes to lose itself by ai", of OS MUTANT, with that retro and so so charming air with which they impregnate this group to each one of his recordings. 
 My favorite: Xs and You.....

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http://www.tohellwith.co.uk/html/display_selection.php?section=2&contentID=1557 ....

the latest offering from the welsh mark e smith, simon love (25 members and counting...), and they have some pedigree having toured with the yeah yeah yeahs and the rapture. it's all a fairly lo-fi affair, that's strong on melodies and choruses, 'x's + o's' is a short (under 2 mins) blast of rock pop and great fun to boot. 'she'll break your heart...again' could be a lost 60's gem, all echoes and lush backing vocals harmonies, very phil spector, not forgetting the
wonderful pounding drums. of the b-sides 'nao va se parder por ai' (a cover of brazilian's os mutantes), is a great bouncing bit of fun which threatens to outshine the a-sides....

www.vanityproject.co.uk ....

The Loves - Xs and Os/She'll Break Your Heart Again EP (Fortuna Pop!)
Twinkly, yet snottily lackadaisical, fuzzy-pop from the Welsh nasal-blues-meet-60s-beat crew. 'She'll Break Your Heart Again' meanwhile has been remodeled to almost Spector-esque proportions, and genuinely sweeps you up of your little feets. All too briefly. 'My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' matches its plain raison-d'etre, with Sunday morning groggy aplomb. To finish a short and very sweet EP is a sprightly, trouser-tugging cover of Os Mutantes' 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Al'. Skif. ....

French Review ....

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.bside-rock.com/Xs-and-Os-She-l-Break-Your-Heart.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=5&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DThe%2BLoves%2B%2522Xs%2BAnd%2BOs%2522%2BFortuna%2BPop%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN....

Here's a French review of Xs And Os as translated by Virginie.......

Emerging from the deepest vaults of the 1960s it is useless to hide that this Loves EP is the best thing that we've heard in - alas - a very long time. That's because it's simply perfect. Fans of the Velvet Underground, followers of the Nuggets garage bible, fans of excellent music, The Loves are maybe THE proof, apart from the Brian Jonestown Massacre galaxy, that our era has now got something inherited from the sacred decade that it can take into the future.

A cheeky voice, a variable formation (already more than 25 members) and four gems for this new recording by the Welsh band who in six years of existence has had time to record two Peel Sessions. So yes, 'it sounds like' since these days that's what you have to tell people - and most of the time it's appropriate and true. So this record sounds like the Monkees and the previously mentioned Lou Reed band, a double influence proudly displayed on everything that the band releases. Well, since nothing really innovative has pleased our ears for ages, we won't be fussy.

What you have to understand with this record is that you will play it from beginning to end - that's about 10 minutes, the songs hitting their target without flapping around blindly for ever - and undoubtedly in a loop. They have a garage sound, which is a hip way to say that it is deliciously dirty and that the melodies are simple. Consequently we love every corner of this dark and falsely dusty basement: the military snare on She'll Break Your Heart... Again, the little bluesy guitar notes on My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You), or the whole of the opening masterpiece XS + OS (big fat guitar, little backing vocals, almost irritating voice).

Nao Vas Se Perder Poi Ai, a high-grade cover, recalls T-Rex' Jeepster in his brilliant use of country rhythms, here slashed with violent electricity, the whole highlighted by ridiculous little voices in the background. That's what is so great about these four gems: The Loves never play the same thing but the bar remains at the high level introduced by the first chords of XS + OS. An essential buy if you've got taste, a no less essential present to give if you want people to think that you do. ....

talian Review ....

These people LOVED "LOVE".......

http://www.indiepop.it/articoli/singles1206.htmloves....

Forgive the wonkiness of the translator though....

Garages and psichedelia acida dealt English, that is with great attention to
the harmonies, the tendency to the simple and one rigorous ortodossia
sixties. Returned in track with a formed EP seven inches that the sophomore album anticipates, band ago the point of the situation rieditando "She'll Break Your Heart" (already on the album "Love"), and facendola to play like a mix between the Music Machine and the fiendish Stones, with vocal echos Frenchmen to complete the dish.  A passage of deliveries between old persons and new Loves not even very necessary, because the group that we loved is still under our in all eyes its colored brightness.  In staircase also the stomper piacione "Xs and Os" condito from soft coretti, the cloying bluesettino and Stonesiano "My sweet drunken blues (for you)" and above all "Nao Goes If Perder Por To The", cover fumettosa of the Os Mutantes that dries the saudade between the fog (or is the smoke of the cigarettes?) of Cardiff and then plunges it in an acid sea of guitars and organ.  Down the hat facing one of the little groups with the courage of to inspire itself to the Creation rather than to Creation.  PS:  Ah, does not matter what you will read in turn: the Weezer here do not there enter nothing.
www.theloves.org....

http://www.sohostrut.co.uk ....

The Loves – Xs + Os CD Single (Fortuna Pop)'Xs + Os' is glammed up T-rex style bubblegum pop from The Loves. 'Xs and Os' is a superb rampage with a big chugging rhythm and a catchy melody; raunchy rock'n'roll with a sugary twist. A sample of The Game OF Love at the start of 'She'll Break Your Heart' opens up this massive collision of Phil Spectre pop and 60s party nuggets garage romps, utterly magnificent, this is this kinda tune I wanna hear. The easy going ' My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' is drunken acoustic spacey pop and is another ace tune, it's like the kind of the thing The Faces used to do so well. Final tune is one madcap bonkers demented cover of Os Mutantes' 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Ai', where a sleazy greasy rock'n'roll riff is pulverised together with some big grin pop, an outrageous tune to finish this excellent single with. The Loves are a band I'm not overly familiar with, but by 'eck, I'm going a get familiar with this band because they are great. Jonny Magus....

2 mo' reviews ....

The 1st is from http://www.mapsmagazine.co.uk....

The Loves make ever so slightly off-kilter pop music. They are unabashed in there dedication to making it clean, sweet and simple whenever possible. They sing about love mainly; sound like The Ramones, The Beatles and Weezer and are goddamned brilliant at what they do.....

There is very little more you could ask of a band such as this and this EP, 'X's and O's' (noughts and crosses? Not a bloody clue) is more of the same. This is a good thing.....

The title track idles along, doused in casual relationship problem musings from Simon Love, while Jenna Love's female accompaniment provides the perfect backing vocals. 'She'll Break Your Heart. Again' is as pure as 60's surf-pop gets these days, and is a friendly warning to - yes indeed - not get back with your ex-girlfriend.....

There is no bullshit, no flab, no hidden meanings or metaphors with this lot; and I love them for that. 'My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' sounds like a b-side from the coolest 70's band you never heard and is, naturally, about love. Nao Vs Se Perder Poi Ai would have possibly contradicted everything I just said about hidden meanings (it being in Portuguese and all, although that hardly warrants 'hidden meaning', rather just 'a different language') until I found out it's a cover of psychedelic Brazilian's Os Mutante. PLUS, the riff is so darn cool it makes me want to cry.....

"Love is all you need" sang Mcartney and crew. This is probably not true, but getting into The Loves will certainly provide much sustenance for those with bedraggled, heart-broken bodies and brains tired from working out what the fuck Joanna Newsom is going on about on her new record.....

The 2nd can be found here-....

http://www.tinyvoices.co.uk/cgi-bin/display.pl?reviewid=mat_TheLoves_single_24899....

I can't c+p that one for some reason.......

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Xs And Os on thisisfakediy.co.uk ....

An odd one.......

'Xs And Os' is the truest mix ever of Weezer-meets-The Beach Boys-meets-The Magic Numbers on helium. It's the drums which set The Loves apart from these however, their familar-sounding vocal and musical arrangement sounding perfectly pure as a combination of the female vocals laid over the male's very carefully.

'She'll Break Your Heart Again' shows The Loves have a clear formula, but 'Nao Va Se Perder Por Ai' proves it's not all the same, a cover of Brazilians Os Mutantes' track, it harks back to Johnny Cash-style rock 'n roll, albeit still with the Beach Boys influenced vocals.

The Loves are good, their only fault being that it's far too easy to list bands with a similar idea: The Magic Numbers, Hal, The Mamas And The Papas...

'Xs and Os' is released as a single through Fortuna Pop on 30th October 2006.

Caroline Charles ....

The Loves "Xs and Os EP" (Independent 2006)....

Welsh Contenders for Inclusion on Dirty Dancing Soundtrack

With its playground chant of a chorus, the new 'Loves' ep kicks off with 'X's & O's'. A fuzzy chug-a-long not far from the surf pop of Weezer. Imagine a sleaze free Dandy Warhols via garage band land where the guy always gets the girl. A suprising choice of first track particularly when up next is 'She'll Break Your Heart....Again'. Infectious marching drums and retro guitar production provide an overall sound not a million miles away from a distorted 'Hang On Sloopy'. The main riff can't quite decide if it'd rather be 'Louie Louie' or 'Get Off My Cloud' so goes for a combination of the two. Female spoken word responses a la Nico / Serge complete the sunglasses at night, bohemian feel. If only it lasted longer ! In keeping with the Keith Richards homage 'My Sweet Drunken Blues (For You)' is a catchy, country sing-a-long with all the delicate swagger of 'Exile' era Rolling Stones. This track should soundtrack many a drunken Jagger impersonation. Acoustic guitar, harmonica and (joy of joys) a whilstling intro combine with bluesy piano to make 'Drunken Blues' a pleasing experience. Last track on the ep is an 'Os Mutantes' cover, a brave move which 'The Loves' pull off with much aplomb. ....

Date review added:  Monday, November 20, 2006
Reviewer:  Jason Walnut
Reviewers Rating: <!--[if gte vml 1]>.. .. ..<![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->..<!--[endif]-->
Related web link:  Band website....

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from http://www.americana-uk.com/auk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=2382 ....

Neonbuzz.net review ....

Another one look.......

Look another Xs And Os review from the good folks at http://www.neonbuzz.net....

The Loves:
Xs and Os / She'll Break Your Heart Again EP ....

The first track 'Xs and Os' is a catchy pop tune filled with complimentary male/female vocals that provide a fluffy start to the EP. It's bound to have you swaying as you pick up the lyrics and attempt to sound as pretty as they do. ....

'She'll Break Your Heart Again' sounds like it would be perfect when accompanying a car in an advertisement with its western twang and bluesy guitars. 'Drunken Blues' is a slower, intoxicated, dreamy tune with its whistles and slow paced strumming along with a deep pounding bass. Each track has something a little different to offer. Putting this psychedelic EP on can help shake off those Sunday blues . ....

Stacey Evans ....

Gigwise.co.uk Review ....

See hear.......

The Loves are The Fall of the ....Cardiff.... indiescene - having seen 25-odd  members come and go since they started up in 2000. Band leader Simon Love must have trouble remembering all their names, but he doesn't seem to have any trouble getting the latest incarnation to turn out sixties-tinged pop songs. The EP's lead track happily bobbing along like a cross between  Teenage Fanclub and the Super Furries, whilst 'She'll Break Your Heart Again' is better still - pushing 'Louie Louie' and 'Wild Thing' up against a Spectoresque Wall Of Sound for an invigorating knee trembler.....

ORGAN Single Of The Week! ....

SINGLE OF THE WEEK
THE LOVES – XS + OS / She'll Break Your Heart... Again (Fortuna Pop) - Classic pop, classic classic pop, classic authentic 60's pop (that does not sound like it was made in Cardiff – it was, Cardiff is clearly the new black this week) sounds like early Beach Boys and psychedelic bubblegum and surf boards and harmonies and sing-along choruses and doo-whoop blues and breezy breezy sunny catchy early sixties teenage Americana in a cherry red 57 Chevy and maybe just the hint of a drop of Velvet Underground / Monkeys acid and just so right right right. Second track sounds like it's going to be Louie Louie Self preservation Society until it turns in to some other brilliantly authentic/long lost Kingmakers/Shangri La's/Standelles treasure that the Brian Jonestown Massacre would kill to make happen, far more pop than the BJM could ever hope or indeed dare to be – classic classic. There's an undercurrent though, there's maybe a little more acid in here then that first listen had us believe, and a slight lo-fi edge of danger, a little bit of dirt under those clean looking nails and smiles and pet sounds and everything is so so right with this perfect little four tracker – track three sounds like a stripped down early Stones thing, fourth definitely is soaked in the finest Monkeys acid.... ....

Why do people spell The Monkees as Monkeys? Unless they mean The Arctic Monkeys?....

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Another Xs And Os Review ....

From- http://www.musicomh.com/singles6/loves_1006.htm

Having spent the previous week dissecting the tomes of cinematic Russian Constructuralism, a brilliant, sweeping musical relief comes in the form of Cardiff's The Loves, who's epically dooh-whopping new EP on Fortuna Pop takes you tripping the indie light fantastic.....

I saw The Loves late last year when supporting Darren Hayman in their hometown's Clwb Ifor Bach. From back then, I recall singer Simon having the awkward, Fraggle-Rock cool of a spaceman who's just returned from a heady venture to the stars, and, backed by a keyboard-tickler with the camp vivacity of a German soft p*rn star (specifically that distinguished blonde from numerous films whose titles escape me) and a dreamy brunette on co-lead vocals, they were utterly, fun-time fantastic.

Straddling the borders between indie and rock 'n' roll with fuzzy, loved-up glee, Xs and Os is the undisputed bubblegum Daddy here, but the EP throws up an accompanying trio of gems to die for. The retro rock 'n' roll fun of the title track evokes abstract images of The Beatles being fed through The Monkeys' pure pop machine, while the country ebb of My Sweet Drunken Blues For You fulfils the most perverse dreams of a spaghetti-Bob Dylan. The cover of Brazilian psychedelic crusaders Os Mutantes' Nao Va Se Perder Pro Ai meanwhile bounces with brilliant obscurants' ebullience.

Possessing that quintessential, multi-faceted indie curiosity, The Loves are pure pop poetry in motion. Embrace them soon, if it's the last thing you do.

- Neil Jones....

Kittenpainting review ....

Rocking Radio 2 ....

MARK RADCLIFFE....

WEDNESDAY 11th OCTOBER....

TITLE: GET ME TO THE WORLD ON TIME
ARTIST: THE ELECTRIC PRUNES
ALBUM: PSYCHEDELIC YEARS

TITLE: LDN
ARTIST: LILY ALLEN
ALBUM: NEW SINGLE

TITLE: PRETTY GREEN*
ARTIST: THE JAM
ALBUM: THE SOUND OF THE JAM

TITLE: ASHES
ARTIST: KT TUNSTALL
ALBUM: ACOUSTIC EXTRAVAGANZA

TITLE: SAD EYES
ARTIST: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
ALBUM: 18 TRACKS

TITLE: WENDY
ARTIST: ATTIC LIGHTS
ALBUM: SHIVER THE TREES EP

TITLE: Xs AND Os
ARTIST: THE LOVES
ALBUM: NEW SINGLE

TITLE: JUMP
ARTIST: VAN HALEN
ALBUM: DRIVETIME

TITLE: CELLPHONE'S DEAD
ARTIST: BECK
ALBUM: NEW SINGLE

TITLE: YOUNG AMERICANS **
ARTIST: DAVID BOWIE
ALBUM: BEST OF BOWIE

TITLE: TAKE A CHANCE
ARTIST: THE MAGIC NUMBERS
ALBUM: NEW SINGLE

TITLE: RED RIGHT HAND
ARTIST: NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
ALBUM: BEST OF NICK CAVE...

TITLE: WONDERFUL WORLD
ARTIST: JAMES MORRISON
ALBUM: NEW SINGLE

TITLE: SHAPES OF THINGS ***
ARTIST: THE YARDBIRDS
ALBUM: GREATEST HITS

TITLE: CHANGE MY MIND
ARTIST: THE BLUESKINS
ALBUM: NEW SINGLE....

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Another review ....

From the good folks at Fat And Confused....

The Loves – Xs and Os / She'll Break Your Heart Again (Fortuna Pop!)....

I can remember the day I logged onto www.thelovesloveyou.co.uk only to find this domain name was up for grabs, what had happened to this loveable bunch, the band responsible for one of the most danceable, whistleable, bone shaking, floor filling tracks of recent times Boom-a-Bang-Bang-Bang? So imagine my joy to hear of the return of the Loves, and you should be happy too 'cos they're back and as great as ever. ....

We already know they're capable of creating great sixties sounding beatnik classics, dig out the Love album if you've forgotten, and Xs and Os (that's text speak for Kisses and Hugs should you be looking at the cover thinking this is some kind of ridiculous marketing ploy from OXO) is up there with there best, making Status Quo sound cooler than ever, taking you back to the sixties, but not the sixties you hear on GEM AM the cool stuff you have to dig and find (Michel Polnareff, The Confusions etc) just like in forty years time when your watching I love the noughties on a Friday night there'll be no Deerhoof or Dressy Bessy.....

On the flipside is a reworking of She'll Break Your Heart Again, the press release tells us its far superior to the original, I wasn't sure at first cos I love the slow burning original, all fragile delicate like a broken heart, here we get what sounds at first like Brimful of Asha played at 78rpm, but I'll admit that each time I hear it it grows a little more on me the way a girl can get prettier the more you find out about her. The sound is now super cool French garage pop/ Velvets, reminiscent of many a track from the excellent Pop A Paris compilations. You also get a new track, a more mature sound on My Sweet Drunken Blues (for you) and a cover of a band I never get round to checking out Os Mutantes, maybe this will give me the kick I need.....

Get your leather jacket, flowery shirt and shades on, lets celebrate The Loves are back!....

www.myspace.com/lovetheloves....

www.fortunapop.com ....

When we played in Nottingham (100 years ago) they (I think's it they) turned up and danced at the barrier (we had a barrier) and when the opening bass drum bit of "Boom-A-Bang-Bang-Bang" happened they all went mental. ....

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The merits of Anglo-Welsh popsters The Loves have long been pushed by this site. Like any cherished item though there's always a fear that one day the fondness will pass when confronted by a realisation that the cuddly little ted on your bed no longer has soft fur and shiny black eyes but is now a bald smelly Cyclops. So, imagine my dismay when the first two tracks I spin on this EP fail to stir my loins or get my hips a swivelling like the old days. Verily the bear appears to be no longer hirsute and lawks, it has a hole below its brow... But wait… I'm playing the record at the wrong speed! And, I've put on the B-side! Bloody cryptic labels! Spinned at the right speed, the two tracks are unsurprisingly improved somewhat but still they're not quite the peaks of yore... Has ted got alopecia and an ocular infection? Luckily, track 1 over on the A-side, Xs and Os, is much better, a singalonga slab of harmonic blues… but the real gem is track 2, the b-side of their 1st ever single She'll Break Your Heart. It's given a glam make-over here and sent tottering onto the catwalk as She'll Break Your Heart… Again. And my God, Mrs Perkins, you're beautiful! Where before it was sweet but plain, a somewhat sparse little number carried along on Simon's nasally vocals, here it's been all Spector-ised, a huge wall of sound production engulfing soaring keys, military percussion, chimes and a terrific Louie Louie-esq 60s riff. A transformation beyond any gurning TV fashionista, I'm telling ya, and yes, ted's as fine and dandy as ever.......

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Saturday, May 26, 2007

Reviews of "Love" Some of these are translated from foreign websites so they're a bit weird sounding...   No surprises on what the theme of this album is, but by avoiding all the usual clichés, The Loves have created a warm and joyful record. The riffs can be naggingly familiar, but if retro is back in then The Loves should go far. The split boy/girl vocals and the Technicolor artwork scream of the 60s, a refreshing change from whatever the new ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />....London.... music trend is this week...:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />.... .. .. "She'll Break Your Heart" could be an optimistically heart broken Spiritualized. They also share some moments with good friends the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, such as "Just Like Bobby D". And "Depeche Mode" pretty much speaks for itself. "Rock And Roll" starts as a Flaming Lips style acoustic but then turns it right up. A lot of this wouldn't be out of place on the soundtrack to The Royal Tennenbaums, which immediately sprung to mind when the opening of "My World Turns All Around Her" came on..... .. .. It's strange how something seemingly so simple can so great to listen to. Can you imagine Richard Curtis including any of this in his next chocolate box view of ....England....? No, exactly, because The Loves are for real. Although "I'm Gonna Get F'd Up" would sound great over the closing credits..... .. .. Nothing confusing, nothing complicated, and nothing too deep, other than their closing 7-minute mantra of "…Love":.... .. .. Love is something you want.... Love is something you bleed.... Love is something you would give your life for.... Love is something you need..... .. .. Released 29th March.... .. .. Joe Weiler- do something pretty.com.... .. .. .. .. Retro thievery works: just look at the intergalatic success of serial backpeddlers The Darkness and The Strokes..... .. .. The Loves too are shameless magpipes to the bone; so much so that every note on their debut lp is potential lawsuit material..... .. .. Their era of fixation is the acid fried sixties, but rather than actually ripping off real bands of the decade, they siphon their inspiration from overblown Austin Powers-derived stereotypes; whirling fairground organs, bouncy castle riffs and vocals that sound like someone squeezing a Care bear..... .. .. The knives will be hurled for that, have no doubt, but formula issues aside The Loves write truly irresistable pop. as is their intention, each song feels like being smothered by pink fluffy hearts. Chelsea Girl sounds like Belle and Sebastian's own pastiche hit Legal Man, and is nearly as winsome, while only the most ice-kn*bbed asexual would pass over the smoochy rollaround Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!.... .. .. You'd still take nothing more meaningful than a t-shirt home from their gigs, but The Loves' reliance on the power of pop is one to be applauded. The perfect soundtrack to "giving your flower" to someone.... .. .. Jamie Fullerton- Soundnation (and Gaer Rhydd).... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. As the sleeve points out it: Love's something you want, Love's something you bleed, Love's somethingyou would give your life for, Love's something you need. .... The Loves has the attitude that all the media await of this group kind, c'est-à-dire a cutting of hair, clothes and a collection of discs perfectly representing trains them years 60 and 70 groovy to wish. When Jon Spencer Blues Explosion weaves itself with Bis and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (editor's note: Karen O is crazy of this group!) that gives The Loves . These boys and girls love the pop tangy songs and we some offer a flopée in an effervescent and irresistible cocktail, as the inspired Little Girl Blues and its chorus sustained by the voices Liz and Catrin. The title She'll Station Break Your Heart resembles itself there to mistake the melody of Je T'aime…Non Plus Moi of Gainsbourg without the torrid breaths. Chelsea Girl probably will become an essential title of the evenings PopinGays, : If I were a Chelsea Girl, would you be my boy. Idem for Just Like Bobby D or Depeche Mode: it is a matter all simply of catchy and devastating hymns. To follow as early as the gone out of their album at the end of March. The Loves will do to budge the entire earth! .... .. .. popingays.... .. .. .. .. You're always told not to judge a book by its cover. Tough. If the same applies to music anybody picking up this album would be left in little doubt as to what to expect within. From the name of the band, the title of the release and the garish pink paisley shirt on frontman Simon's back there might as well be a flower shaped neon sign that says Sixties. Namedropped by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and adored by this zine at least, the Loves debut long player captures the sunshine elements of their terrific live set and is a rather spiffing selection of jaunty ditties inspired by the music of the decade of peace and love..... .. .. About half the album's efforts are scuzzy garage punk but with the Loves there's no legs astride, heads down, navel gazing, fretboard wankery. "Po" and "faced" are two words that will never appear hyphenated and coupled with their moniker on Google as they add peppy keys, female harmonies and dollops of fun. Just like Bobby D is a fuzzy Velvets tribute to Mr Zimmerman produced by Phil Spector with Ravi Shankar watching on and Boom-a-Bang-Bang-Bang is the Eurovision entry you'd actually love. My World Turns All Around Her is a lovely folky love song built around a pilfered Byrds lyric whilst Chelsea Girl is saccharine sweet girl fronted C86 with Talulah Gosh scrawled in crayon on its satchel. Inside the sleeve the band proclaim that "Love is something you need". Too darn right. You need this album..... .. .. Paul M- soundsxp.com.... .. .. .. .... .. ....Italy.... loves the loves....  ....  Frichettoni outside the maximum time, the Welshmen Loves (come from ....Cardiff....)are a wonderful regurgitation garage-POP, that ago treasure of the revival garage in auge in years 80. Six fixed members, fairly uniforms between the two seies, and one authentic fixation for... the love. After two single a lot very received, the first album ("Love", obviously) it exits for Track and Field in 2004..... .. .. the half of years 80 (we always return lì, eh? There will be a reason). All the groups had hats cut to bowl, they had studied to memory the collection of Pebbles (Nuggets too much was sputtanato) and played - in the garage - 60s rhythm & blues with the alluci intinti in acid. Just like today, you say? Not just: to the age to nobody it would have come in mind to dedicate to the Gruesomes or the Brood one cover, and yes that eran it toastsand. And then there was that air of dedicated to passion to the verbo garageblues, those allure from Rolling Stones pre-reputation, that dirty sound that all today tries to limare, sinanche to the Estrus. Beh, this pappardella servants to explain from where they arrive the Loves. And hour we see to discover of what speak. ....  .... Love, love, love....  .... E' all in the cover, in the titles them, in the phrases, in the photos. .... .. .. - the titles them: "Love", by the Loves. And indovinate qual' is the sound that they make? Exact, the sound we make is... Love. .... .. .. - the instruments: ....Hammond...., keyboards, acoustic guitars and lap steel, theremin and... The s Singing Orchestral Circus to the choruses..... .. .. - the phrase: "Rock and roll isn' t about space and drugs... it' s about sex and boyfriends and girlfriends" (Jonathan Richman).... .. .. - the photography: three boys and three girls (exactly). Shirts to flowers, pants to leg and ombelichi. The girl with the tamburello lacks only, but I do not feel myself to exclude that solo from the alive one is exhibited. Ah, and the trust: "you can' t always get what you want". And what is that you want? .....  .... The s they are of the fricchettoni, ve we had already said it. Having juror not to be similar null who in the history of the rock follows 1968, it gives to the press a album that is substantially an anachronisticrivisitazione garage rock: slippery, bluesy, West Coast with one spray of British Invasion. But for all the cautions that take, between the folds of the camicioni the POP to traspare, it fattens, it explodes. .... After introduction therefore perfectly 1967 of "The sound we make is...", under skies color marmellata, "Little Girl Blues", "When My baby Comes", "Just Like Bobby D" (as you see love to play with the history) drag the s to a party blues/garage, to play covers apocryphal of Stooges and Rolling Stones: chitarroni, stomp, slides and Farfisa, dragging and acidulous; and of "Shake Yr Bones" and "Kiss!Kiss!Kiss!"you must know that son beautiful like the Flaming Groovies of the beautiful times, with ....Roy.... To. Loney still to its place: triggered, trapunte of organs and nasal voice. And it would go very well even if it was here all, even if it would be only I listen to nostalgic more amusing and of the month. .... And instead not: if the Baskervilles ours are the Zombies of the days, the Loves of sure is the Chesterfield Kings, invischiati in the garage revival but with a POP edge that it renders them bocconcini prelibati for all. It announces "She' ll break your heart", song of tender with the contours of sixties the POP, warmth and a po'sbilenco; then they ignite the battery electronic - more choruses and urla - remaining Rock and Roll ("Depeche Mode" é the title it), and "My World Turns all Around Her" demonstrates that with other will the s they would be of perfect craftsmen the POP, able to weave serenade romantiche like this to a girl who finally will yield. But still not there are..... There are many beautiful pieces and many ugly pieces, but there is a limited number of songs that you will end unconditioned with loving. "Chelsea Girl" is one of these, what between five years we will call "the capolavoro of first s". It is not the piece of Lou Reed but glielo you will pardon endured, rich com' it is of harmonies, of girls to the choruses, of ingenuous guitars, of contagious enthusiasm that do not succeed to hide the love for 80s the POP and of it it has the same candid and zuccherina tenderness: the only difference is that it arrives to us from the past and they do not give the future, but tipsy of same the genuine astonishment. A po' hops happy everywhere and therefore will make you, swinging the head to the rhythm of "If were to Chelsea Girl/would you be my boy?". Because also the POP is one issue of, of boys and girls. The sluice "... Love" begins Ramones and ends in embroiderys of blue flowers, with flautini and choruses and violette and loves that bloom all inorno. but to that point already you will be conquered. Difficult to withhold the enthusiasm, and I do not try to us: mistresses to you, it loves them to you. POP is. ....  .... Salvatore indiepop.it.... .. .. .. .. The Loves sound like they have scoured the same sources as Bearsuit, but personally I have more time for their Love debut (Track and Field) than for Cat Spectacular. Why is this? Maybe it's just because of the silly nod to Dylan on the back cover photo, and the fact that the Loves look like the gang of ultra-hip Pop kids I always wanted to hang with. There's more of a pure '60s shimmy to the Loves too, which I obviously find endearing, and plus they have the good sense to nod to Vic Godard and the Subway Sect which is always going to win points around these parts. The Loves then sound like a band madly trying to piece together their own identity, and having a huge amount of fun in the process. Because of this Love sounds at times unhinged, like someone lifted the top of their collected heads and let the contents spill out, so that here they sound just like the Pastels when they were making songs for children; there they sound like Talulah Gosh with their beatnik boys; over on that one they're doing 'Vertical Integration'… Seldom does the blend come together to make you think 'oh yeah, THAT'S the sound of The Loves', but then again, so what? So, postmodern to the point of perfection, or confused meanderers in the puddle of (indie)Pop? Today I'm plumping for the former..... .. .. .. .. A twee 60s pastiche from The Loves.... .. .. "Dad, what were the 60s like?".... .. .. "Well son, it was a time of bad fashion, war and long hair. A period when the world could be changed by growing your hair and wearing kaftans and cheesecloth shirts, when people thought they could make a difference by shoving flowers down barrels of guns and necking shedloads of lsd. But in reality everyone just became bankers and.... insurance sellers when the 70s came around.".... .. .. "What's lsd Dad?".... .. .. "It's a drug that hippies took in the 60s to make them think they were well dressed. It made them grow bad facial hair and think floral prints were a viable fashion statement.".... .. .. "Didn't all that ruin the music, Dad?".... .. .. "Well, actually there was quite a bit of decent music around in the 60s. The Beatles changed the world with their crazy haircuts and harmonies, Jimi Hendrix introduced pyromania to his electric guitar, and the Velvet Underground sang about hard drugs and sadomasichism.".... .. .. "What's sadomasicism, Dad?".... .. .. "Don't go there, son. But the 60s was also a time of counter-culture and uprising, sexual revolution and the first man on the moon. There were protests in ..America.. against the Vietnam War and racial discrimination, and revolts in ..France.., ..Czechoslovakia.. and the ..Far East... Not to mention epochal recordings by Phil Spector, Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys. It's safe to say there'll never be a decade like it again.".... .. .. "Sounds great. Apart from the ugly stinking hippies, of course. Where can I hear the music of the 60s, Dad?".... .. .. "Well son, you could go into any record store and pick out dozens of.... timeless, classic albums. Or, alternatively, you could listen to this very pointless album by The Loves, a maddeningly kitch retro pop group from ....Cardiff.... fronted by a singer with a painfully thin voice and a fake American accent. They've made a rather shameful pastiche of some of the greatest artists of all time by reducing their best moments to stereotype and doing it all over again.".... .. .. "That does sound pointless. I think maybe I'll listen to Trout Mask Replica instead.".... .. .. "You do that, son. Love isn't all you need, you know.".... .. .. .. .. The Loves.... .. .. Love.... The Track and Field Organisation.... .. .. **.... .. .. John Peel approved boy/girl sextet with glam and Motown influences.... .. .. As befits an act on this retro pop loving label, The Loves are big on farfisa organ, Spector girl groups and stomping riffs that recall the Glitter Band. But while Chelsea Girl and She'll Break Your Heart pack strong tunes and winsome can do naivety, they are ultimately the stuff of pastiche. Frontman Simon Stone camps it up throughout, but with his nasal-sounding voice out-wimping that of Bobby Gillespie, he's less than arresting. All that said, Just Like Bobby D's use of revving motorbikes a la Shangri-la's Leader Of The Pack is to be applauded.... .. .. James McNair.... .. .. .. .. Pennyblackmusic.com.... The Loves – Love (Track and Field) As that erudite philosopher Ronan Keating once sang, "Life is a roller coaster, [you've] just gotta ride it", and it seems that The Loves have been on said roller coaster with young Keating as they entertain us with fourteen songs about love in a variety of guises from the unrequited to the loves gained and lost. In fact this all-consuming fixation with love is perhaps a little unhealthy, but it sounds good so who cares about the repercussions? However, they are quite right, the sound they make is indeed love – the truest and most passionate form which culminates in the shedding of several band members as happens to all the best bands (Fleetwood Mac anyone?). I'm sure they'll patch it up, but will they ever escape the comparisons to the likes of the Velvet Underground et al? Well, call me a philistine but I've never much cared for The Velvets (as I think the hip young things / my dad call them) so I shall carelessly toss aside such comparisons. However, The Loves sound is consciously "retro" – and it's difficult to get away from such comparisons when they sing of girls with flowers in their hair, play swirly keyboards and wear paisley shirts. Yet the Loves are also like nothing you've ever heard all at the same time. And if you look hard enough at the picture on the back of the CD inlay then you'll see a Take That scarf and Gary Barlow, I believe, is yet to collaborate with Lou Reed. It is a cliché yes, but it's also true that every single note of every single song on this album is insanely catchy. If crusty scientists haven't yet worked out a formula for the most appealing sequence of notes (to be clinical about it all!) then they should fupping well listen to this! There's an almost a hymn-like quality to many of their songs, from the acoustic paean of "My World Turns All Around Her" to the despairing "I'm Gonna Get F**ked Up" where Simon wails, "I just can't get over you" while the rest cheerily harmonize in response, "I'm gonna get f'd up!". The harmony-laden final track "…Love" culminates in an impassioned mantra where they sing that "love is something you would give your life for", well, I'm a hard hearted old trout so I probably wouldn't go that far but I can guarantee that The Loves "Love" will have you hauling your carcass out of your armchair and experiencing feelings of Rock and / or Roll circa 2004. .... .. .. .. .. thestereoeffect.com.... Growing up in the shadow of reruns from the Partridge Family to the Monkees, and preening yourself to look like a ragtag bunch of David Cassidy's is the only way that the Loves could have arisen from their ....Cardiff.... roots. There has never been anything more bubblegum, or more pop than Love, mainly because all that original hubbub had no intention of being either – it was just an unfortunate tag that came along with the subsequent disaffection of a generation and all their moping around. But with the arrival of the Loves, comes the sort of retro heaven that one could easily get swallowed up in. Beware. Unlike the heaven that's in the movies, this one isn't filled with white clouds and harps; it's filled to the brim with the cast-offs. Not just the stuff that makes it into the thrift shops, but all of it – including crushed velvet. The Loves pay respect to their influences with a sort of truth that verges on plagiarism and cliché. "Little Girl Blues" is the spitting image of a Lulu wannabe, and the guilty-pleasure of "Chelsea Girl" is almost too good to let go, but don't lose your way. Even the temptation and stupid fun of "Depeche Mode" and "Rock and Roll" couldn't make you stray. There's the saying that forgetting the past means you'll repeat your mistakes in the future, and while there's no way we'll condemn an entire decade to the dustbin, The Loves seem to have such a love affair with an age (and one they're all surely too young to have known) that they're willing to not only forgive the mistakes, but do it all over again with swollen pride and blinkers. We'll salute their guts, but they get nil points for glory, because everyone knows the best part of the 60s was the end of it. Lisa Wiley .... .. .. .. .. tastyfanzine.org.uk.... The Loves – Love (Track and Field).... So, is this a posthumous release or not? The Loves' website is long gone, at least on my PC, and a recent tour was cancelled at the last minute. 'Love' is pretty much what you'd expect if you'd heard anything at all of this band. Which is not to say it's a bad album, more that I wonder if they ever had more than one string to their bow. There's only so many times you can sound like the Monkees playing MC5 tunes after all, which is a shame, because not only did The Loves have one of the best names in pop – they looked as cool as f'k too. Nice legs, shame about the face. Sam Metcalf .... .. .. ..South Wales.. Echo.... .. .. Looking like they've just stepped out of a time-travelling bus, South Wales sextet The Loves' couple the swinging '60s with garage band sensibilities. And while many of the tunes on this debut album will get your toes tapping, it's clear they haven't quite found the answer to lifting their music away from feeling dated. That may be in the production, but you get the feeling The Loves are nearly there, but not quite. Still, Love is a promising debut. 3 out of 5.... .. .. .. .. 3 stars- logo magazine.... .. .. Retro thievery, when pulled off correctly, can half-inch hearts as well as riffs. You're in love with serial-backpeddlars The Darkness and The Strokes, right? The Loves too are shameless magpies, so much so that every note of their debut LP is potential lawsuit material. Their area of fixation is acid fried 60s twee-pop. But rather than actually ripping off real 60's bands, they siphon their inspiration from overblown Austin Powers-derived stereotypes: whirling fairground organs, bouncy castle riffs and vocals that sound like someone squeezing an electronic Carebear. The knifes will be hurled for that, have no doubt, but formula issues aside The Loves write truly irresistible pop. As is their intention, each song makes you feel like you're being smothered by pink fluffy hearts: 'Chelsea Girl' sounds like Belle And Sebastian's own pastiche hit 'Legal Man' and is nearly as winsome, while only the most ice-knobbed asexual would pass over the smoochy rollaround 'Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!'. You'd still take nothing more meaningful than a t-shirt home from their gigs, but The Loves' reliance on the Power of Pop is one to be applauded. The perfect soundtrack to giving your flower away. ....   .... Jamie Fullerton .... .. .. .. .. Buzz Magazine.... .. .. Some people star 7:53 PM  0 Comments (Add Comment) | 0 Kudos Translate Powered by English Albanian Arabic Bulgarian Catalan Chinese Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Maltese Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese