The Last is an American,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based, early pop/punk band, formed in 1976 by Joe Nolte with high school bandmates Vitus Matare and Dave Harbison. By 1978 the band included three brothers: Joe (guitar, vocals), Mike (vocals), and David Nolte (bass guitar). They released several albums on

SST Records SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Tuners, a small business through which he sold electronics equipm ...

, Bomp! Records and End Sounds.

History

The band was initially inspired by the nascent CBGB's scene as well as the first

Modern Lovers The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks w ...

album. Its sound was a mix of

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

, surf rock,

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

and

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Last", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 89Lamey, Charles P.; Robbins, Ira; & Rabid, Jack
The Last
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'', retrieved 2010-09-21 The first settled line-up included Vitus Mataré (keyboards, flute), the Nolte brothers, and Jack Reynolds (drums). After three self-financed singles, the band was signed by Bomp! Records, who issued the debut album ''L.A. Explosion!'' in 1979 (described by ''

'' as "a near-perfect debut"). It was also issued in Germany (Line Records), Japan Trio/Trash Records), and the UK by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. They recorded a second album, Look Again (1980), which has never been released. The original members began to disappear until its demise in November 1985, with David Nolte joining

Wednesday Week "Wednesday Week" is the seventh single released by the Undertones. The song was written in December 1979 by the band's rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter, John O' Neill, during a Christmas break the band had taken while recording their ...

and later Lucky, and Mataré forming Trotsky Icepick. The band was considered a major influence on the psychedelia-influenced LA bands of the mid-1980s, including

The Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), " Hazy Shade ...

and

The Three O'Clock The Three O'Clock is an American alternative rock group associated with the Los Angeles 1980s Paisley Underground scene. Lead singer and bassist Michael Quercio is credited with coining the term "Paisley Underground" to describe a subset of the ...

,Whalen, Kathi (1989) "The Last and the Cynics", ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', August 21, 1989, p. B7 as well as the South Bay punk bands such as Black Flag and the

Descendents The Descendents are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a s ...

. Joe reformed the band in 1988 with Mike Nolte along with new members Luke Lohnes (guitar, vocals), Larry P. Manke (bass guitar), and

Dave Naz David F. Nazworthy, professionally known as Dave Naz (born September 2, 1969) is an American photographer and film director. Early life Nazworthy was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Beverly Hills. He is the son of Maxine F. Na ...

worthy (of Chemical People) (drums). This line-up signed to SST Records, releasing three albums between 1988 and 1996. The early 1980s lineup of the band reunited for occasional reunion shows in Southern California between 2005 and 2013. That year, The Last released a new album for the label End Sounds featuring the Descendents/All rhythm section of Karl Alvarez and Bill Stevenson. The Last remains active as of 2020. The current lineup was stabilized in 2019, and consists of:
Joe Nolte: guitar, vocals
James Nolte: keyboard, vocals
Philo Van Duyne: guitar
Lisa Torres: bass
Paul Rucker: drums
James Nolte is former bassist David Nolte's son and Joe's nephew. David Nolte has worked as a touring bassist, working with

Dave Davies David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was in ...

of the

Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

, David Gray, The Wondermints and many others. Vitus Mataré went on to become a successful architect and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. As of 2020, The Last planned to release the remixed and remastered version of "Look Again", recorded in 1980. According to Amplify Music Magazine, "In 1980, THE LAST recorded the album on their own to control the process as much as possible, but what they came out of the studio with was completely sonically wrong, receiving zero offers from record companies (interestingly, the original copy of the album has been going for over $800 on Discogs). So how exactly did THE LAST bring LOOK AGAIN back to life? As VitusMataré explains: “Those same master tapes have been carefully baked and transferred by John Strother at Penguin Recording in Los Angeles. Jonny Bell at Jazzcats Studio in Long Beach worked with the damaged files to restore the signals and performances that Joe and I knew were somewhere on those reels. There are no new overdubs and zero digital trickery. Guitar and organ tracks were sent to the same model amplifiers Joe and I used live back in the day and re-recorded. These are the original performances given a proper mix.”

Discography

Albums

*'' L.A. Explosion!'' ( BOMP!) (1979) *''Painting Smiles on a Dead Man'' (Lolita/Backlash) (1985) *''Confession'' (SST) (1988) *''Awakening'' (SST) (1989) *''Gin & Innuendoes'' (SST) (1996) *''Danger'' (End Sounds) (2013) *''Look Again'' (House Arrest/Backlash) (recorded 1980, remixed and remastered, released November 2020)

Singles

*"She Don't Know Why I'm Here" / "Bombing Of London" (Backlash) (1977) *"Every Summer Day" / "Hitler's Brother" (Backlash) (1978) *"L.A. Explosion" / "Hitler's Brother" (Backlash) (1978) *"Every Summer Day" / "Slavedriver" (BOMP!) (1979) *"This Kind of Feeling" / "Slavedriver", "We're In Control" 12" 45 (Line) (1979) *"Up in the Air" / "Wrong Turn", "Leper Colony" WarfRat Grammophon (October 1982) *''Fade to Black'' 12" 45 EP (BOMP!) (1982)

Compilation appearances

*''Waves Vol. 1'' (Line) (1979) - "We're In Control" *''Who Put The Bomp?'' 2XLP (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

/BOMP!) *''Yesterday's Sound Today'' (Line) (1979) - "That Kind Of Feeling", "She Don't Know I'm Here" *''Experiments In Destiny'' (BOMP!) (1980) - "She Don't Know I'm Here" *''WarfRat Tales'' (WarfRat Grammophon) (1983) - "Try To Rise", "Brand New Day" *''The Radio Tokyo Tapes'' (Ear Movie) (1983) - "It Had To Be You" *''The Rebel Kind'' (Sounds Interesting) (1983) - "What Is In There?" *''The Best Of Louie, Louie'' (

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, Rhino) (1983) - "Louie, Louie" *''Testube Cassettezine B Vol. 4 #3'' cass. ( Testube) (1983) - "Try To Rise" *''The Best Of The Tokyo Radio Tapes'' (

Chameleon Records Chameleon was a record label formed by producer, music entrepreneur and former Capitol Records A&R executive Stephen Powers, in association with Bob Marin, Managing Director of alternative rock importer Sounds Good, and Richard Foos, co-founder of ...

, Chameleon) (1987) - "It Had To Be You" *''Duck And Cover'' (SST) (1990) - "Baby It's You" *''SST Acoustic'' (SST) (1991) - "Awakening" *''That's Line 6'' (Line) (1991) - "She Don't Know Why I'm Here" *''We're Desperate: The L.A. Scene (1976-79)'' (1993) (Rhino) - "She Don't Know Why I'm Here" *''Destination Bomp!'' (BOMP!) (1994) - "She Don't Know Why I'm Here" *''The Roots Of Powerpop!'' (BOMP!) (1996) - "Every Summer Day" s Last*''Listen And Learn With Vibro-Phonic'' (Vibro-Phonic) (1994) - "Every Summer Day" *''Joe's Blue Plate Special Wol. 14 & 15: Olivia Tremor Control/Chuck D'' (Joe's Grille) (2000) - "Perfect World" *''Of Hands And Hearts: Music For The Tsunami Disaster Fund'' 2XCD (

Integrity Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Inte ...

) (2005) - "I Know (demo)" *''Children Of Nuggets-Original Artyfacts From The Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1996'' 4XCD box (Rhino) (2005) - "She Don't Know Why I'm Here (Single Version) *''He Put The Bomp! In The Bomp'' (Vivid Sound/BOMP!) (2007) - "Pablo Picasso"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last, The American power pop groups SST Records artists Jangle pop groups Musical groups from Los Angeles