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Last Giant Premiere “Radio Swell”; Let the End Begin out Oct. 2

Posted in audiObelisk on September 24th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

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Last Giant will release their third album, Let the End Begin, on Oct. 2. The band, now a guitar/drum duo with RFK Heise on the former and Matt Wiles the latter, have been talked about sporadically here over the course of their two prior outings, 2015’s Heavy Habitat (discussed here and here) and 2017’s Memory of the World (discussed here), and the new collection continues several threads of style and substance from its predecessors. Comprised of a tidy 10 tracks running 39 minutes, Let the End Begin furthers the punker-grown-up vibe of the earlier records, and songs like “Edge of Town” and the uptempo boogie “Sunset Queen” and “Dead Shore” remind of the songwriting prowess that is the source of so much of their power as a group, but even unto the (gorgeous) artwork which sees a collision between the animal and human worlds and the lyrical themes that don’t shy away from the amorphous-glob-of-fucked-ness that is the current sociopolitical climate, Let the End Begin is a push ahead for Last Giant‘s established processes. Ain’t broken, and so on.

Heise is at the center of the songs in post-Josh Homme fashion. A telltale “oh…” in “Edge of Town” says a lot, though cuts like opener “Kill Your Memory” and “Radio Swell” marry that radio-friendly sensibility to an undertone of pop-punk, and the melodic bursts in the cleverly-titled “Idiology,” the almost-title-track “The End Will Begin” and the starts-quiet-but-don’t-be-fooled closer “Followers” stake a claim to a more individual approach, whatever familiar elements might persist. “Burn the Wall” would seem to have its origins in obvious real-world lunacy, but is nonetheless clean and in control as Heise and Wiles remain throughout.

That in itself is something of an accomplishment — I certainly know every timelast giant let the end begin I try to engage with the “current moment” as they call it, I feel either unspeakable sadness or skin-peeling rage — so hey, way to keep it together, guys. I suppose, then, this is the part of the post where I tell you that politics as they’re presented throughout Let the End Begin don’t come at the expense of songwriting. We’ve done this dance before, and it’s true, but seriously, if you can’t handle a band writing tunes in an honest way about the world around them and the time in which they’re creating, what the fuck are you doing listening to music in the first place?

The only really sad thing about Let the End Begin is that it’s too late. All that “the end is near” shit? Tell it to the wildfires. Tell it to the hurricanes. Tell it to 130 degrees in Death Valley. Tell it to the nazis next door. Tell it to the plague. Tell it to the election about to be stolen. Tell it to Roe. I tend to count World War I as the end of what was up to that point civilization, but a century-plus later, it sure feels like the end of something. I’ve comforted myself in the past with the notion that my generation isn’t so important to live through that kind of history; that does precious little when the word “unprecedented” seems to have become so much a part of the daily lexicon.

Screw it and rock out? Yeah, that’s a way to go. What I take comfort in these days is less abstract. It’s music. I don’t think songs like those brought to bear by Last Giant are looking to change minds, like someone’s gonna go from watching Tucker Carlson to hearing “Dead Shore” and see the errors of their ways, but in an era that makes one feel all the more screwed minute-by-minute, yes, there is something reassuring to be derived from material as crafted as that on Let the End Begin. The album isn’t staid by any means, or monochrome, but you know from the outset that the band are capable of steering their course and they don’t do anything to betray that trust along the way.

Alright. Enough of my blah blah. “Radio Swell” is premiering below. Go listen to it. Find your joy. Maybe it’s there.

PR wire info and preorder link follow.

Enjoy:

The album can be pre-ordered at: https://lastgiantband.com/

Comprised of RFK Heise (System & Station) on vocals/guitar and Matt Wiles on drums, the two deliver a 70s rock sound with progressive embellishments along the way, +obliterating the pretty confines of everyday rock, preferring to not treat rock as a sedentary form. Let the End Begin finds the band bolder, evolving from their 2015 debut Heavy Habitat (a record in which Heise played every instrument) and 2017’s Memory of the World.

Written and recorded in isolation, RFK Heise and Matt Wiles spent months honing and capturing the essence of now as seen through their eyes. Lyrically the album touches on politics, sex, isolation, love, and loss, all a reflection of the times we collectively find ourselves in.

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Last Giant Announce Memory of the World Due April 4

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 14th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

There was an abiding crispness to Heavy Habitat (review here), the 2015 debut full-length from Portland, Oregon’s Last Giant, who feature in their ranks RFK Heise, formerly of System and Station, and on an initial sampling, the follow-up, Memory of the World, seems to operate in a similar vein. Not gonna complain there. They’ll head out on tour supporting the second long-player shortly after it arrives in April, so they’re continuing to keep busy on that level as well, after running through several West Coast stints for the debut.

Like the first record, Memory of the World will see release through Little One Ate the Big One Records. I’ll hope to have more on it as we get closer to the release, including those tour dates, but for now here’s some background on the album from the PR wire:

last-giant-memory-of-the-world

New LAST GIANT album out 4/4/17

The new album by Portland, OR’s LAST GIANT titled “Memory of the World” out April 4th, 2017 on Little One Ate the Big One Records.

On the heels of Last Giant’s 2015 debut record Heavy Habitat, a hard-hitting opus chalked full of bone rumbling rock, comes Memory Of The World, an inwardly drawn collection of 11 tracks. The album transcends the nuanced 70’s rock sound with its progressive rock embellishments and Last Giant continues to obliterate the pretty confines of everyday rock in this sophomore release.

Last Giant features former members of System and Station (1998-2013) and moves forward where S&S left off with their bigger then life indie rock sound. “Memory of the World” was co produced and recorded by Larry Crane (Tape Op) in Portland at Jackpot! studios and mixed by Paul Malinowski (The Life and Times, Shiner) at Massive Studios in Kansas City, MO.

Last Giant has an album release on April 8th at the World Famous Kenton Club in Portland, OR followed by a west coast tour April 12th-24th.

www.lastgiantband.com
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Last Giant, “Captain My Captain” official video

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Last Giant Premiere “Harmony” Official Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on April 7th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

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What are Portland heavy rockers Last Giant doing in their new video for “Harmony?” They’re having a good time, as one might expect from listening to their Feb. 2015 full-length debut, Heavy Habitat (review here). Miniature American flags for drumsticks, flourescent lightbulb for a microphone (also phallus, also sort of guitar), and what looks like a tripod for a bass — it’s all business as usual for Last Giant, who play under a flickering light being visibly switched on and off in front of red white and blues streamers, the clip for “Harmony” having been filmed — on a phone, or so it looks — sometime during their Winter 2015 tour of the West Coast. They’re having fun with it, and so should we. If you take it too seriously, you’ve missed the whole point.

That said, “Harmony” is also a fitting example of Last Giant‘s songwriting, upbeat with an underlying current of punk, but still weighted tonally. Live, they’re the trio of guitarist/vocalist RFK Heise (ex-System and Station), bassist Adam Shultz and drummer Matt Wiles, but on the record — and it’s the studio version of the song you hear in the video, despite some other noise bled in — it was all Heise, recording guitar, bass, drums and vocals on his own with Red Fang producer Adam Pike at Toadhouse Recordings, and while the results are still a party, it’s easy to imagine that next time around, the dynamic in the band will be considerably different since, you know, there’s a band now and everything. Fancy that.

“Harmony” is the third Last Giant premiere (see here and here) I’ve hosted on this site, which might seem like overkill until you take a couple minutes to check out the song itself. Again, not sure where the video was shot — other than to say “America,” which isn’t all that specific but a pretty safe bet given the color scheme — but hope you enjoy anyway:

Last Giant, “Harmony” official video

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Last Giant Premiere Live Video of “Captain My Captain”

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 4th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

last giant

Portland, Oregon’s Last Giant released their debut album, Heavy Habitat, on Feb. 24 through Little One Ate the Big One Records. You might recall the song “Captain My Captain” was premiered here in December. Well, as a lousy American once said, “Fuck it — we’ll do it live.” That guy was a dick, and wrong about everything else, but he had it right in terms of the value of raw performance, and Last Giant are heeding that bit of inadvertent and once-viral wisdom, currently embroiled in a 12-date run around the West/Northwest that had them snowed out in Colorado last night, finds them driving to Idaho for tonight and tomorrow, and wrapping with two shows in Oregon this Friday and Saturday.

A not-insubstantial stint, and no doubt effective in getting the three-piece’s point across. That point? That you can kick ass and enjoy doing it. Tracked by Adam Pike at Toadhouse Recordings, Heavy Habitat was a solo-project in the studio for multi-instrumentalist/vocalist RFK Heise, formerly of System and Station, but live, Heise is joined by bassist Adam Shultz and drummer Matt Wiles, and naturally, the dynamic is different. One can see it in the video below of Last Giant on stage at The Trunk Space in Phoenix, Arizona. As they run through “Captain My Captain” live, Wiles‘ swing can’t help but drive the boogie in Heise‘s guitar and Wiles‘ bass, and the track departs from the intricate layering of its studio incarnation to something more basic that speaks to punkier roots than one might’ve initially heard in its crisp studio presentation.

But I guess that’s the whole point of doing it live. Last Giant will be looking to tour more this summer — including a makeup date for Denver that, since it won’t be March, is probably about 30 percent less likely to see snow — so keep an eye out. In the meantime, this clip comes from last Friday, Feb. 27, which I think counts as “fairly recent” by modern standards. Video is followed by the specifics on the remaining dates of the tour:

Last Giant, “Captain My Captain” Live at The Trunk Space, Phoenix, AZ, 02.27.15

Last Giant remaining current tour dates:
3/4 Flipside Lounge- Pocatello, Id
3/5 Crazy Horse- Boise, Id w/ My New Mistress
3/6 Lone Pine Cafe- Baker City, OR w/ guests
3/7 Foggy Notion- Portland, OR w/ Fortune Club + Human

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Last Giant Premiere “Captain My Captain” from New Album Heavy Habitat

Posted in audiObelisk on December 3rd, 2014 by JJ Koczan

last giant

There’s a definite good-time vibe running throughout Last Giant‘s Heavy Habitat in songs like “Captain My Captain,” “Jef Leppard” and the swing-happy “Ginger Baker,” and of course there’s bound to be some comparison since the band — a solo-project of RFK Heise (ex-System and Station) in the studio, a trio live — worked with engineer Adam Pike, who also helmed the last Red Fang album, but the truth is there’s much more lurking under the surface of Heavy Habitat than skate-rock grooves and cheap-beer worship. Opener “2’s & 3’s” starts the 10-track release on a melancholy and progressive note closer to Porcupine Tree, and cuts like “Mountain Size” and “Emperor in Reverse” delve into mature-sounding melodies more contemplative than brash.

Ditto that the vocal exploration “Harmony” near the album’s midpoint and the airy, drumless finale “Swim Till We’re Sober… Then We Start Over,” with its pervasive sense of wistfulness and Beatlesian multi-track backing vocals (think “Because”). There are punk roots, and a loyalty to the form and structures of classic rock, but Last Giant doesn’t seem content to settle for one or the other. All the better for Heise, who’s joined in the band on stage by bassist Adam Shultz and drummer Matt Wiles, and who played last giant heavy habitatevery instrument on Heavy Habitat. In “Big Dumb Words,” he recalls a ’90s-style openness somewhere between Jane’s Addiction and Blind Melon, and “Night Swimming” (not an R.E.M. cover) swells in its middle third from a quiet beginning into one of the album’s most memorable thrusts, but Heise is no more allied ultimately to one side or another. For an actual band to construct a varied debut full-length is impressive enough. For a solo outing to do the same while sounding like a full band is even more so, and Heise fluidly arranges the songs so that just as “Night Swimming” finishes out all thoughtful and quiet, the more raucous “Ginger Baker” steps in to pick up the momentum.

Pike‘s production gives Heavy Habitat an overarching smoothness that serves to unite the material further, and Heise seems to relish the chance to center the proceedings around songwriting. All told, Last Giant‘s debut is a vinyl-ready 38 minutes that will see release in Feb. 2015 through Little One Ate the Big One Records, and as early notice, I’m fortunate enough to be able to host “Captain My Captain” for streaming. I don’t think any one track could completely sum up everything the record has to offer, but as one of its most upbeat movers and strongest hooks, it makes a fitting introduction anyhow, and the layers of vocals in the chorus and the stylized bass fills give some hint as to the progressive sensibilities underlying what Heise has put together.

Please find “Captain My Captain” — I keep feeling like there’s an “O” missing in that title — on the player below, followed by some background on Last Giant courtesy of the PR wire, and enjoy:

Last Giant (ex-System and Station) Announce Debut Album “Heavy Habitat” Out February 2015 on Little One Ate The Big One Records

Blood, sweat and tears used to mean something, more than just clichéd words. They represented the core attributes of what makes rock special. RFK Heise, a rock veteran, has been crafting music by that standard since long before reality television became a dominant star-making machine. As front man for Portland, Ore. stalwarts SYSTEM AND STATION, he’s built a devoted audience through strong songwriting and an honest attention to craft. In 2014 though, Heise decided to make a daring move: to take on the recording process alone. What resulted was a hard rocking opus titled Heavy Habitat under the moniker LAST GIANT. The album is slated for an early 2015 release with live support from Adam Shultz (bass) and Matt Wiles (drums).

Heise worked on Heavy Habitat while touring in support of the latest SYSTEM AND STATION record, and spent more than seven months honing and demoing the new material. “It’s easy for me to wear two hats,” he says. Although the process of going it alone was scary at times, the upshot was a measure of creative control he felt he needed for his artistic expression. “This record was more personal,” Heise says. “I could just hear every song in full.” Heise’s decision to record solo came from a desire for artistic clarity. Collaborating with SYSTEM AND STATION allowed the members to develop material together, to the overall improvement of the original concept. Not these songs though, he is quick to say. While some of the LAST GIANT songs came from dreams and others were spawned from real life experiences, each is, as Heise describes, “my own soundtrack. A statement of my life at the moment.”

Heise characterizes the recording of Heavy Habitat, in which he played every instrument, as an emotional and energizing process. Even though there was pressure to realize his ambitious vision, he relished his opportunity to bring this record to life. While in the studio, Adam Pike of Toadhouse Recordings (who also worked on Red Fang’s critically acclaimed “Whales & Leeches”) served as engineer, tasked with helping craft its hard rocking sound. The impetus of Heavy Habitat was to craft something hard, straightforward and ultimately satisfying, the germ of which came under the influence of a great deal of ‘70s heavy metal. As Heise puts it, “it’s a serious party record. A hard hitting party record.” The constant in Heise’s projects is the need to create real, honest albums, filled with songs that you like and are willing to stand behind. “The record,” he says, “That sets the standard.”

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