Information/Write-up
Released in 1968 in a hand-to-hand pressing of just 200 copies, the United Empire Loyalists’ only single is a raw, immediate capture of a band poised between their garage-blues roots and the exploratory psychedelic sound they’d soon embrace.
Side A, “No, No, No,” is a cover of Willie Cobbs’ “You Don’t Love Me,” learned directly from the Grateful Dead’s version during the band’s visit to Vancouver—an event that included the Dead jamming at drummer Richard Cruickshank’s parents’ house. Recorded at Robin Spurgin’s studio in Kitsilano, the track was laid down in what guitarist Jeff Ridley described as “about one take,” with The Collectors present in the studio watching “these young guys about 16 or 17” knock it out with surprising ease. The result is loud, gritty, and full of teenage urgency—Rick Enns' vocals punch through a dense tangle of guitars, while Cruickshank keeps a straight, unflinching beat underneath. As Ridley put it, “We were doing Rolling Stones covers because they had this ballsy, gutsy sound—really manly.”
The B-side, “Afraid of the Dark,” is where things begin to shift. An original composition penned by Rick Enns, it slows the tempo and takes a more introspective turn—darker, moodier, and more spacious. It’s less immediate but more revealing, signaling a band already pulling away from the three-chord format and moving toward the jam-heavy, modal experimentation that would define their live sets. “We started jamming a lot,” Ridley recalled. “The first thing we’d do in practice was always a jam, and from that ideas for songs would come.” “Afraid of the Dark” captures the beginnings of that process on tape.
With no label support and limited airplay, the single faded quickly from view—but not before helping establish the Loyalists as one of the leading lights of Vancouver’s growing underground scene. It may not be polished, but that’s the point. “No, No, No” b/w “Afraid of the Dark” wasn’t meant to break charts—it was the sound of a young band doing it their way, on tape, before the moment passed.
-Robert Williston
Rick Enns: lead vocals, bass
Anton “Tom” Kolstee: lead guitar
Jeff Ridley: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Richard Cruickshank: drums
Produced by United Empire Loyalists
Engineered by Robin Spurgin
Recorded at Robin Spurgin’s Studio, Vancouver, British Columbia
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