ARTICLE, ROCK HOUND MAGAZINE, VOLUME 3, ISSUE 12 | 1969
After a contentious autumn spent recording their new record, Cut the Loaf, it looks like the groundbreaking English band, National Loaf, may have gone and done just that. Guitarist and frontman Lucious Cole declined to comment on what lead up to an on-stage fistfight between himself and bassist Simon Wilkie at New York’s Fillmore West, but insiders mentioned smoldering band tensions regarding the new direction that Cole was taking the group.
Long known for their English pop anthems and lysergically-charged psychedelic freak-outs, Cole recently spoke about a desire to simplify the band’s sound in a desire to “get back to what’s real.” Keyboardist Koda Cornell’s work on the new album certainly shows an affinity with the new material, his work on an antique tack piano especially fits in with what many critics have termed the Loaf’s American Gothic.
Wilkie, he of the black eye, appears to be the most out-of-synch with the group’s new sepia-toned vibe. Fans of the bassist’s more outré forays on the four string were shocked at how straight he played it on the new songs. Before the show, Wilkie was overheard complaining to a fan that all Cole wanted was “that bloody oompah, oompah shite.” It didn’t help the situation that Cole had showed up late to the Loaf’s own release party with Mexican mariachi outfits for the band to wear.
It’s unknown whether the band will continue without Wilkie, as he immediately told reporters that he was done with “Cole and all his American cowboy bollocks.” Rumors that Wilkie is putting together his own project, tentatively called, The Crust, have been unsubstantiated at press time.
Jere Woodrow, founding member, and Cole’s best friend since childhood, was unavailable for comment after the Fillmore fracas, but it is this reporter’s bet that whatever Cole decides to do next, Woodrow will be involved, holding down the beat.
Román Leão 
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