Le Loup

Sound:
Indie sound-collage inspired by Dante’s Inferno
Album:
The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly 
Label: Hardly Art

The debut from Washington D.C.’s Le Loup is a sonic and literary adventure through Dante’s Inferno and Sam Simkoff’s subconscious; an array of sound and influences that is both emotive and erudite.  The album, verbosely titled The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly, was released on Hardly Art records last year, a SubPop spin-off. After Simkoff recorded the majority of it at home on his laptop, a collection of internet ads formed what was to become Le Loup in its present state. 

When performing, Le Loup is a seven-piece band, so it’s unsurprising that the songs are strewn with a variety of instrumentation that place them in the progressive, difficult-to-classify genre of bands like Yeasayer and Silver Mt. Zion; something along the lines of indie sound-collage. Twang from Simkoff’s banjo is ubiquitous on the album, but countered with keyboards and horns that take the sound far from any semblance of roots music. The tracks are shape shifters as well, building tension and releasing like Diet Coke versions of Sigur Rós epics.

Two tracks on the album borrow names directly from the Inferno, “Canto i” and “Canto xxxiv.” They serve as bookends to The Throne, the former a quiet, mostly instrumental opener and the latter an intro of sorts to the final song, “I had a Dream I Died.” Simkoff sings, “The skies will open up/and sun drenched clouds will part like doves,” and the sound pauses briefly before bleeding gently into a simple string progression that marks the final track change. Layers of keyboards, distorted vocals and other instrumentation then build a repetitive refrain of “this is the end” that completes the journey. 

Live
Performing with the six other members of the band, Simkoff runs the risk of creating a farrago of sounds that fail to mesh, but the result is a wall of sound effect that is largely absent on the record. The culmination of this at their April 1st show at Chop Suey was when The Ruby Suns joined Le Loup on stage for the final song of the evening, creating an energetic display of decibels that was as impressive as it was exhausting. The apparent bedlam on stage, though, left through the speakers as organized madness; all participants remained striking cohesive. Songs like “We Are Gods! We Are Wolves!” came out so impressively, they album versions now seemed watered down. This was aided considerably by the chemistry that Simkoff and Mike Ferguson (lead guitarist) bring to performing, seeming very much in sync with each other throughout the show. Indeed, our gallery of photos from the performance shows the two caught mid-song in furtive BFF glances.

The next album will be recorded in a studio and feature more of the touring band’s members. For now, The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly is available everywhere on Hardly Art records.