Last Giant
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 electrifying tracks. The album is infused with a deep and nuanced 70’s rock sound with progressive embellishments along the way and Last Giant continues to obliterate the pretty confines of everyday rock in this sophomore release.
While bandleader Ryan Heise (ex-System and Station) isn’t out to make overt political statements with this new album, Memory Of The World is steady while adrift on the seas between the strangeness of the present, and the nostalgia for the past. The sound achieved by the band at Jackpot Studio’s resonates that speculative space. Sonic edges are filed down, and choruses are much more restrained. Mixing engineer Paul Malinowski (Shiner, The Life and Times, Riddle of Steel) and co-producer Larry Crane (Sleater-Kinney, Pavement, Tape Op) proved as prodigious partners in bringing Heise’s vocals out front in the mix, a creatively daring choice that adds a new layer to already delicate material, making songs like “Inventory” that much more visceral, and his noir cinematic songwriting experiments, like “Blood On The Road” feel like audacious artist looking out for a new venue.
On one hand, the album features a heavy dose of straight forward, guitar rock, like “Living In Photographs” the opener which confronts social media’s insidious ability to distort reality, and some tongue-in-cheek satire too, as on “The Comedian.” Whether the current political climate has turned Heise’s lyrical content may be debatable, a few critical songs give Memory of the World a decidedly sharp bite, like “Diamond Decade” which takes its shot right at society’s upper crust, and “Saint Paul” which refers directly to the murder of an innocent Philando Castile at the hands of police officers.
Behind the scenes Last Giant transformed from a Heise solo project into collaboration. After putting a group of touring musicians together to bring Heavy Habitat out on the road, Heise, embraced a fully-fledged band. While he still fronts the outfit on guitar, vocals and keys, he’s teamed up Palmer Cloud on bass and Matt Wiles on drums to bring us the Memory Of The World. The trio honed and arranged 11 songs over a year period, splitting time between touring and the studio.
Last Giant doesn’t treat rock as sedentary form. They are bold. They’ve evolved and Memory Of The World is that bittersweet record, arriving at just the right moment, where facets of our culture seem steady and adrift.
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RIYL: Thin Lizzy, System & Station, Jane's Addiction
TRY: #1, 3, 4, 10
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