OK, sure, it’s an EP. But it’s Loop! Any psychedelic revival will include those who dream darkly, and Robert Hampson’s Loop was a different stream entirely from the baggier currents of British alt-rock. Hampson, the band’s founder and constant, is perhaps the quintessential Quietus man: fiercely independent, sonically swashbuckling. Over the course of three records (1987’s Heaven’s End, 1989’s Fade Out, and 1990’s A Gilded Eternity) for Jeff Barrett’s Head label, Hampson and company served up heavy alloys of his beloved Stooges and Krautrock bands. Guitars droned menacingly (and panned frantically) when they weren’t yowling like a wounded beast. Even their pop moves, such as they were, had a sort of deliberate frenzy: Fade Out’s opener “Black Sun” is propelled by Neil Mackay’s irresitable bassline, but Hampson foregrounds the crispy fuzz and locks his vocals in the cellar. The records were underground hits and Hampson’s vision was expanding with each release (the legend goes that he only knew four chords when Loop began, but this may have been a canny embellishment from Barrett, who had years of promotional experience with a number of Creation Records acts), but the band called it quits in 1991. The year before, Hampson hit it off splendidly with Godflesh’s Justin Broadrick on a joint tour, and after Loop’s end, Hampson folded his crushing psych sensibilities to Godflesh’s trippy industrial approach on the Pure LP. Hampson contributed to one track on Godflesh’s Cold World EP, then struck out with his Main project, where he and Scott Dawson (Loop’s second guitarist) explored the ambient side of drone, turning their axes into abstractions and leaving conventional rhythm behind. It was Hampson’s longest-lived project; Dawson left the group in the late ‘90s, but Hampson soldiered on until, tired of his fanbase’s fond memories of his guitar-heavy days, he retired the Main name. He decamped for France, beginning a residency with INA-GRM, Pierre Schaeffer’s legendary experimental studio, crafting electro-acoustic works under his own name. He regrouped Main, and a chance festival encounter with Broadrick led to his performing with Godflesh again. Having resisted years of pressure from fans and promoters, Hampson reconstituted Loop. Mackay, Dawson, and drummer John Wills played a first round of shows, but all three men broke away to pursue other ventures. Hampson pulled the plug on the band’s Facebook page, only to retract it the next day. Loop continues, with a new lineup and the half-hour of new psychonautic material Array 1 out this summer via ATP.