South Bay punk stalwarts The Last will close out this year’s annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival in Las Vegas, NV, with a special performance on Monday, May 26, at the Beauty Bar.
Band members Joe and Mike Nolte, with Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez of the Descendants, will come together for a very rare full-band performance to finish off the last night of the festival in support of The Last’s seventh full-length album, Danger (End Sounds), released late last year.
Danger preserves the legendary Los Angeles punk outfit’s patent sound while adding a kinetic spark. Of the 17-year hiatus between their last album and now, Joe Nolte cryptically says, “I personally went to hell and back, reinventing my soul along the way. We have all had brushes with death and have all survived. ”
It is clear that the music survived as well. The evidence: the new album, Danger. Where L.A. Explosion! existed as a psychedelic pastiche of surf, 60’s garage punk, and Beatles-damaged pop, with Danger, Joe wanted to show the world a slightly rougher side.
“The Last is the dark side of music from SoCal, along the lines of the Doors and X,” says Karl Alvarez. “It’s like the SoCal of riots. But there’s a streak of romance and hopefulness.”
Everyone from The Bangles to Black Flag, OFF!, and Circle Jerks counts The Last amongst its influences. They pioneered a distinctly catchy yet raw and powerful sound that’s permeated every facet of rock and roll. With a seminal catalog on labels like SST and Bomp! Records, with releases L.A. Explosion! [1979], Look Again [1980], Painting Smiles on a Dead Man [1985], Confession [1988], Awakening [1989], and Gin & Innuendoes [1996], they’re continuing to build their formidable legacy now with End Sounds.
Monday, May 26 The Last to perform at the Beauty Bar (517 Fremont Street, Las Vegas)(21+, $5, 10 p.m.) Tickets: Click here for information
