Last Scene Alive
“I’ve always loved how those old Van der Graaf Generator records sound super heavy without having a guitar.”
Even in the world of progressive music, where originality and imagination are prized, Last Scene Alive stand out as a blissful, unexpected anomaly. Instigated by two passionate polymaths - saxophonist Graham Robertson and keyboardist Zack Be – this flamboyantly esoteric project have produced one of the most inventive and fearless albums of the year, 'World Class Pep Talk'. Rooted in the intricacies of prog, fiery alternative jazz and multifarious post-rock, the duo’s sound is endlessly restless, brimming with incisive hooks and moments of genre-phobic mischief.
“We’ve both played in a bunch of different bands,” says Be. “Me and Graham would meet at shows and talk about all the different weird projects we wanted to do. One of our favourite things is a trio, with sax, keyboards and drums. We thought, what could we do with that? I like trying to make the most noise with the fewest number of people!”
Last Scene Alive were born when bandleader and guitarist Garrett Gleason invited Zack Be to perform at a spontaneous improv gig in Washington DC. After recruiting Robertson, it became evident to the keyboardist that some rough material was needed for the proposed performance, which led to the writing of several songs that would later appear on 'World Class Pep Talk', albeit in wildly reconfigured form.
“As much as we love jamming and improvising, the recorded medium is a totally different thing,” says Be. “When we got to play around together in a recording environment and do whatever we wanted, it brought a lot of stuff out, like ‘What’s the craziest noise we can make?’ I’ve always loved how those old Van der Graaf Generator records sound super heavy without having a guitar. It’s about making the sound exciting without breaking your limitation.”
From the glacial, soulful trip hop of 'Summit Not The Chasm', which features revered DC vocalist Taisha Estradad, to the nimble, spiky jazz rock of 'Better To Be Alone Than In Bad Company' (featuring a cameo from Gleason), 'World Class Pep Talk' is a debut full of crazy ideas, perverse stylistic side-steps and razor-sharp earworm melodies.
“The last track on the album, 'Any Man Worth His Salt', has all of that happening within six minutes,” says Be. “It’s got the most weird time signature riff thing happening, it’s got one of our catchiest choruses in it, and it also has several minutes of mounting orchestral noise. You don’t need to know anything about music or prog to feel like you’re being taken on a journey.”
Although they currently reside on two different continents (Robertson lives in Amsterdam, Be in DC), Last Scene Alive are open to performing live in the future, while also admitting that they would love to make a follow-up to 'World Class Pep Talk', particularly if the will of the people requires it.
“Right now we’re focused on what the reception is going to be for this record,” Robertson states. “We have busy lives and other projects, but if there’s demand for more Last Scene Alive, it would be hard not to give people what they want!”
- Dom Lawson
PROG FILE
LINE-UP: Zack Be (keyboards/fx), Graham Robertson (baritone sax/fx)
SOUNDS LIKE: A fizzing melting pot of jazz, post-rock, prog and more
CURRENT RELEASE: 'World Class Pep Talk' is available now from Bandcamp
WEBSITE: lastscenealive.bandcamp.com World Class Pep Talk | Last Scene Alive