The Loved Ones return with «Latest Hits!» produced by Nick Waterhouse
The Loved Ones return to recording together more than three decades after their original run. «Latest Hits!», produced by Nick Waterhouse, arrives on 23 October.
The Loved Ones return to recording together more than three decades after their original run. «Latest Hits!», produced by Nick Waterhouse, arrives on 23 October.
The classic Oakland line-up reunites
The classic lineup — Bart Davenport, Xan McCurdy, Michael Therieau and John Kent — has reunited to write and record twelve original songs on analogue tape. The approach suits their blend of R&B, garage rock and 1960s Merseybeat harmonies.
Analogue tape and the sound of the sixties
Producer Nick Waterhouse is a natural collaborator given his own work with vintage-inspired R&B. The challenge is to make the production feel like a living band, not a museum reconstruction of old records.
The band’s separate lives since 1995
Formed in Oakland in 1990, The Loved Ones recorded for Hightone Records before splitting in 1995. McCurdy went on to play with Cake, while Davenport built an extensive solo career. Their reunion brings together musicians who have changed individually while retaining a shared language.
Release dates and Spanish tour
Digital release is set for 23 October, with Lovemonk vinyl following on 30 October. Singles include «Down That Road», «Baby Got Something» and «True Love Or Temptation». The Spanish tour begins in Valencia on 28 November and continues through Castellón, Barcelona, Ourense, Gijón, León’s Purple Weekend and two Madrid shows on 6–7 December.
Thirty-one years make this more than a nostalgic reunion
The four musicians who recorded together in the early nineties have since taken different paths. Xan McCurdy became part of Cake and Bart Davenport built a long solo career. That individual experience is what makes the reunion compelling: instead of simply recreating their former sound, the band can test what remains of its shared musical instincts.
Nick Waterhouse’s involvement and the use of analogue tape make aesthetic sense for a group rooted in rhythm and blues, garage and Merseybeat. Yet authenticity is not a question of old equipment alone. It comes from the sound of players reacting to one another, and that is what twelve newly written songs should reveal.
Spanish audiences will have two opportunities to see them in Madrid, at Fun House on 6 and 7 December, alongside dates in Valencia, Castellón, Barcelona, Ourense, Gijón and León. The album arrives digitally on 23 October; the Lovemonk vinyl edition follows on 30 October. Further information: Fever! Productions.