NY Loose: The Sound of a Great Band Falling Through History
NY Loose spent three decades being one of the best bands that nobody had to listen to – and that’s the only type of secret that’s worth keeping. Brijitte West and NFA Promotions have finally managed to unlock the secret, and on September 16th they’ll give you Monolith Kids – a remastered proof of a band that has done everything right in the completely wrong decade to be appreciated. You will get the full Loosen Up! EP and choice cuts of the almost impossible-to-find Born to Loose album, as well as a cover of the song “Cheap Tragedies” by the Avengers at the very end – because when you’re paying tribute to yourself, you better also pay tribute to someone else.
Let’s be honest – what does it mean to say that something is “one of the best-kept secrets of the underground of the ’90s”? It means it’s good. It means that it’s ignored. It means that there was an era when people would’ve given anything for this album, but instead they had to settle for the same thing standing three feet away – only because it had a logo. This isn’t tragic – this is the way things go – most people don’t have taste, and those who have it realize it only after twenty years – like you’re doing it now.
“James” is the song that makes Brijitte West an undisputed great American songwriter, even though Gary Sunshine from the band Circus of Power co-wrote it. It’s a song about a person, not a persona, told through guitars that sound as if they’re being played too hard for the amplifiers. This is the whole magic of NY Loose captured in one song – nothing here is superfluous.
There is also “The Late 20th Century Blues” – a song co-written with Richard Bacchus from D Generation. This song is either the most romantic description of a century that died or the most honest one – it’s up to you to choose since both aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s four minutes long, and yet it manages to capture all the atmosphere of being in your twenties in a city where everything is about to become very expensive and very boring. It’s a eulogy that is still wearing its shoes. Rock’n’roll has never been as good at funerals as it is at weddings, and this is one of the best funeral songs ever.
“The Luckiest Girl” is the moment when the album stops swaggering and starts being honest – and if you think of it, the thing that is very loud being brutally honest is an act of violence against its own reputation. West sings the song as someone who knows that most people in the room will mistake tenderness for weakness – and does it anyway. It’s the quietest loud song that you’ll listen to this year – and it will be the only one that will still be there at three a.m. while the rest of the album is going home.
“The Desperate Hopeful” performs the dirty work of believing something after life has tried to persuade you that there’s no point in doing that – introspective lyrics, melodies that rise when they should rise, grit doing its usual thankless job of holding beauty.
Monolith Kids isn’t a nostalgia trip. It’s a correction. Out there, somewhere, there’s a version of the ’90s when this band was the headliner instead of being a rumor. And this remaster is the closest anyone has ever gotten to visiting this place. Performances haven’t aged since they weren’t trying to sound like a specific year in the first place – they were just trying to sound honest – and unlike relevance, this trait doesn’t expire. Turns out that being ahead of the time means waiting. NY Loose waited for thirty years. Your turn’s next.
Order here (UK/International) : HERE
Vinyl: £33.90 + shipping / CD: £13.90 + shipping
Order here (US only) : HERE
Vinyl: $38.99 + $8.00 shipping / CD: $14.99 + $5.00 shipping / Vinyl & CD: $68.98 inc shipping
