It would be hard to imagine a topsy-turvier career path than that forged by The Loft. In the mid-80s, they were the first Creation Records band to top the indie charts with the classic ‘Up the Hill and Down the Slope’, appear on TV, record a Radio One session and be invited onto a major tour. But then, they split up on stage, mid-song in front of 3,000 people at the Hammersmith Palais. Cut to nearly 40 years later and in 2025 the four original members released their debut album, ‘Everything Changes, Everything Stays The Same’. Now, with almost indecent haste and an absence of drama comes a follow-up ‘Badges’.
What always distinguished The Loft was their mastery of the three-minute guitar-led pop song and ‘Badges’ contains ten of these memorable short-form gems which in the pre-streaming era would have screamed ‘SINGLE’. Their frontman, guitarist and chief songwriter Pete Astor’s understanding of the form is evident from the alternative career he has forged as a senior lecturer at the University of Westminster, teaching, researching and writing about music. As the album shows, he is someone who understands the practice, as well as the theory, of pop songwriting.
‘Badges’ sets off in a glorious rush, the almost rockabilly-like rumble of ‘Happenstance’ quickly giving way to chiming guitars as Astor lets chance offer solutions to “the messy march of time.” While the opener is archetypal 60s-influenced 80s indie, ‘Sad Comedian’ has storming 70s glam riffs that create the urge to start singing ‘Metal Guru’. Together with Dave Morgan’s stomping drums, it produces a giddy rush. The lyrics skirmish with the trope of laughter to hide the pain, relays the old joke about the light at the end of the tunnel being an oncoming train, throws in a reference to “tears of a clown” which from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles was an early example of a chart-topping sad banger. Its closing line, “Goodnight and good riddance” has echoes of John Peel’s sign-off at the end of his programmes.
Aptly, the mid-tempo ‘Campervan’ has a chugging rhythm brightened with sunburst guitar chords, a hymn to pleasure perpetually deferred, it concludes, “van life for me / one day I’ll be free / adventure calls / next year for sure.” Serving as a prime example of Astor’s talent for sketching a pointed vignette, ‘1955’ is an origin story with hints of glamour that also acts as a metaphor of indecision and failure to seize opportunities – “you were raised in Hollywood / but you never learned your lines / you stood frozen in the spotlight / claimed you were taking your time.”
Coming across like a twangy blues, the bittersweet ‘Beautiful Problem’ has the narrator acting “like a stupid teen / in the sweetest hell.” It would not be hyperbole to describe ‘Ex-Lovers And Long Lost Brothers’ as the best song The Go-Betweens never wrote and, as Brisbane’s finest were the 80s’ greatest exponents of the artfully literate pop song, that is the highest praise. All the qualities of a Grant McLennan composition are present and correct – a sense of place (Seagrove Bay and Charing Cross Road); enigma, melancholy and regret; a gorgeously downbeat melody; and a brief guitar break. ‘Goodbye Saturday Night’ exemplifies the economy of their songs, its imagery (“your bloodied hand, your indifference and your smile”) producing a mystery to place alongside its nostalgia.
‘C’mon Let’s Hear It For The Now’ seems to embrace contradiction. Its lyrics speak to taking a pill and “now I’m dancing to zeros and ones / I’ve never had so much fun” which could be interpreted as a celebration of dance music yet the tune remains imbedded in the traditional four-piece beat combo setup, albeit with a twisting psychedelic guitar line. Amongst its twangy guitar, there is an optimism to ‘Junk Shop’ with its instructions to “open up the junk shop of your heart” and “wait in stations and dream again.” Like an old Hollywood movie, this song collection ends with ‘Rob Rides The Sunset’, set on an early winter evening, there is an autumnal hue to the guitars and a yearning for magic in the desire to see into each other’s minds.
‘Badges’ surpasses its predecessor through its rigid adherence to the three-minute pop song, the greatest art form. It is a mature take on the form, thoughtful yet full of heart. All ten songs are outwardly simple and accessible, full of meaning yet open to interpretation, well organised but exciting, music that can still capture teenage energy and emotion but with the added lashings of regret that come with age. As regular listeners to The Loft’s regular champions Riley and Coe know, a badge is a highly coveted item. This album is even more desirable.
The Loft: Badges – Out 8 May 2026 (Tapete Records)
Loft – Sad Comedian (Official Video)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
