Authentic raw folk from the Medway delta.
It’s now 2022 and Chris Broderick, the voice of The Singing Loins passed away earlier this year.
After the passing of their dear friend, Chris Broderick, Billy, Arf, and Rob decided to get together and record a 45 in his memory.
The single ‘Song of the Medway’ soon led to a full-length LP, ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ which contains new songs, old songs re-worked, traditional songs and even a Bob Dylan cover.
This text is from November 2012….
The Loins were back with their final album ‘…Here On Earth’, then officially a four piece with the addition of John Forrester on double bass & Bouzouki. This followed on nicely from their eleventh album, which came out in January 2011, proving that genius is nothing more than gritted teeth and enduring patience. ‘STUFF’ (Damgood365CD) is the 11th offering of bare-knuckle folk from the Medway Delta. Their songwriting is steeped in the British & European traditions of Punk, Folk, Music Hall, Character, Chorus, Cabaret, Melodrama & Buffoonery. 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.
and…
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 a year later 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 sell out tours of Eastern Europe, Germany & France, plenty of American indie radio plays, and an ever increasing fan base all over the world.
Their 10th album ‘Unravelling England’ brought them to the attention of the more mainstream press with The Guardian and Mojo both giving very favourable reviews, we’re expecting even more for the new album.
With ‘Stuff’ it seems their very creative strength is derived from ordinary lives of day jobs, families and mortgages. 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.
by March 2013 the band decided to split up, which was a shame really as they seemed to finally be getting somewhere…but anyway…we loved ’em!
www.singingloins.co.uk for more info…
