A Brief History of The Loins

The Loins are Chris Broderick on vocals, Chris (Arfur) Allen on guitar and Rob Shepherd on banjo, mandolin & acordian, with John Forrester on occasional stand-up bass.

The Loins' song writing is steeped in the British & European traditions of Punk, Folk, Music Hall, Character, Chorus, Cabaret, Melodrama & Buffoonery. They sing tales of underdogs, suicides, circus freaks, the bereaved, frustrated and heart-broken, the washed up and mentally ill. Ever enduring outsiders, it’s likely they are now the world’s longest serving, truly amateur, original musical group. They’re certainly the fucking best.

Now the history lesson…Chris Broderick & Chris (Arfur) Allen started The Loins as a raw, stripped down acoustic duo in 1990 and soon had Medway legend Billy Childish in their corner. He recorded their first two albums live in his bathroom onto a mono Revox tape machine and released them on his Hangman label. These savage rarities are now swapping hands for big dollars on EBay and are often quoted as major influences by young purveyors of punk/folk.

After a couple more self-released albums and a great album with Billy Childish called ‘At The Bridge’ they split in 1999. After a 6 year lay-off they shook hands and returned in 2005 with a triumphant comeback album, ‘Songs To Hear Before You Die’, and the same year were joined by Rob Shepherd, who played junk shop banjo and mandolin on their 2007 album, ’The Drowned Man Resuscitator’. Since then the group have gone from strength to strength with full blown tours of Eastern Europe, Germany & France, plenty of American indie radio plays, and an ever increasing fan base all over the world.

'Stuff' (Damgood365CD) is the 11th offering of bare-knuckle folk from the Medway Delta. It’s hypothetical, of course, but would Morrissey, Bono, Albarn, McCartney, et al. have continued unabated in the face of such utter indifference? Would they fuck. Perversely un-ambitious, they remain untainted, uncorrupted, and above all else, still doing it for the reason they started doing it – Love.