THE LOONS’ uniquely, multi-national line-up creates a distinctive sound combining the hard, kinetic drive of European Freakbeat with the psychotic melodic cool of California’s Sunset Strip circa ’66. While the band draws heavy inspiration from groups like the Pretty Things, the Yardbirds and Love, they are also fiercely original in their approach, creating their own uniquely intense songs rather than opting to be ’60 garage jukeboxes. Formed in San Diego, California in late 1995, they have evolved into one of the most exciting and original bands on the scene. The band’s current line-up features lead singer Mike Stax (ex-Tell-Tale Hearts, Crawdaddys, Hoods), bass player Anja Stax (previously of the Diaboliks and Thee Cherylinas), guitarists Marc Schroeder (ex-Letdowns) and Chris Marsteller (ex-Chasers), and drummer Chris Cancelliere.

All their recent releases have been produced and recorded by Mike Kamoo (Earthling Studios). The Loons’ first album, LOVE’S DEAD LEAVES (Get Hip, 1998), was produced by Ebbot Lundberg of Sweden’s Soundtrack of Our Lives. The Orange County Weekly hailed it as a “masterpiece”, describing the Loons as “a blast furnace of an art-driven garage band… This music teems with the dementia of such bona fide American whackos as Arthur Lee, Sky Saxon, Sean Bonniwell and Roky Erickson.” The highly anticipated follow-up, PARAPHERNALIA, is the second release on UT Records, the label launched by Stax as an offshoot of his long-running UGLY THINGS magazine. PARAPHERNALIA features 10 road-tested original songs including the wild blues-punk wailer “Turned to Stone,” the melodic 12-string folk-rocker “Follow the Rain Down” and the psychedelic Bo Diddley beat epic “Another Life.” The Loons returned to the recording studio in 2010 bursting with ideas and hungry for garage rock’n’roll action. This creative explosion resulted in their third album, Red Dissolving Rays of Light – OUT NOW on BOMP! RECORDS. Eleven unforgettable original compositions, ranging from the coolly psychedelic to the completely psychotic, including two songs with the mind-melting psychedelic steel guitar work of Glenn Ross Campbell of the Misunderstood. During 2015 The Loons were back in the studio to record their 4th LP for Bomp! Records. The release of which, as well as a new 7″ by Dirty Water Records in the UK, “Miss Clara Regrets b/w Alexander”, coincided with an appearance at the Beat Bespoke festival in London. With ‘INSIDE OUT YOUR MIND’ The Loons have created their most compelling and original album to date. The album features 11 diverse original compositions, ranging from the short, sharp, infectious rocker “Siren City” to the towering psychedelic epic “As the Raven Flies” which echoes the vibe the Pretty Things’ SF Sorrow album with its soaring vocal harmonies, backwards guitar, and whirring Mellotron interludes. It’s an album of artful contrasts, where torrid garage rock screamers like “My Desolation” and “I Don’t Live There Anymore” rub up against haunting, West Coast-flavored pieces like “Moon and Tide” and “Head in the Clouds,” with its four-piece string arrangement, and the stark, introspective acoustic number “Silence.” Later in 2015 The Loons went on for a tour of Spain with the highlight being an appearance at the Purple Weekend, one of Spain’s largest festivals for Underground and Garage, Beat and Psych music and its scene. BURGER RECORDS released “Diamond, Garbage and Gold – The best of The Loons” cassette tape in November 2017. The band recorded two stomping tracks “Blue Ether” and Saturdays Son” for a 45 on DIRTY WATER RECORDS, UK which was out in March 2018. They also completed a tour of Spain and Italy in March/April 2018 with appearances at Freakland Festival and Primavera Beat. 2019 Their latest seven-inch release, an exclusive to Munster Records, was released in April, presents three new and diverse Loons creations: A Dream in Jade Green is an intense, high-energy psychedelic number; two parts hallucination, one part seduction. Memories Have Faces is a primal, percussive, jungle workout with wailing steel guitar and Yardmerizing harmonica, while Don’t Make Me Wait is a straight-ahead, hip-shaking sixties beat number. The release was followed by a tour through Spain which included the Barcelona Psych Fest and finished at the highly anticipated Wild Weekend on the island of Mallorca.