The Sheffield Scenester

I need to start this review by apologising to The Last Standing. Because of the problems we encountered here at Sheffield Scenester over the late part of 2011/early part of this year, the review of this EP got a little lost in the mixer. However, with things looking on the up as far as we are concerned, this is one EP which we couldn’t let slip through the net.

The Last Standing are one of the more honest and hard working bands on the Sheffield circuit at the moment, and it’s great to hear all of their hard work documented within this 6 track EP, ‘Spotlight’. Having formed right at the start of 2010, ‘Spotlight’ encapsulates perfectly the sound of The Last Standing over those first couple of years. Indeed, opening song ‘Japan’ captures this right from the off, as it’s renowned for being the opening song at the majority of their gigs. The track begins with a long, steady, interesting intro which isn’t in any hurry to meet the main part of the tune, which is testament to the fact that these lads are all very competent musicians who don’t need to panic and hammer through everything without blinking.

When the vocal does start, it has a Beatles-esque harmony which hugs into Casey Ward’s guitar riffs creating a huge sound. ‘I wanna live in Japan/In my dreams/So far away/Maybe I will get there/One day’. This is the sort of song which will get deep inside your head without you realising it, and about a week after hearing it you’ll start humming it in the queue at Morrisons.

‘In Your Eyes’ is track 2, and again I recognise it instantly from when I’ve reviewed a previous Last Standing gig at the Frog. The double recorded vocal harmony at the start pick up the tune and carry it into the first verse. Personally, I feel this is actually one of the weaker tracks on the EP, in places it gets slightly repetitive, but it’s still very listenable. Credit on this track has to go to the drummer, Jim Loukes who gets a lovely sound out of his kit on this one. It’s also worth pointing out at this stage that all 6 tracks were recorded entirely by the band themselves, at lead singer Andy’s home. I for one appreciate how much work goes into recording and the crisp sound The Last Standing have managed to capture over this collection of songs proves how much work went into it over the six months or so it took to record.

‘In Your Eyes’ then bangs straight into another crowd favourite, ‘Stepping Stones’. This song is brilliant. It’s got a Rolling Stones vibe to the vocal and Casey on lead guitar once again steps up to the plate with some amazing wah wah infused licks. The main riff runs through the majority of the song but on a track like this that’s a positive, as it binds everything together. Another top quality effort on drums by Jim, who effortlessly combines with bassist Chris making a solid platform to allow the guitarist a free role to graffiti his sound all over the track. As with The Last Standing’s live performances, Andy Holmes seems to have complete control from the front. ‘Stepping Stones’ along with ‘Japan’ are the two songs where the boys seem at their most confident.

‘I Want Never Gets’ opens with Andy singing the first verse over the top of a catchy guitar riff. When the rest of the band kick in the song builds again and takes on a life of it’s own. This song would definitely have you nodding along within a couple of minutes, and despite being a reasonable three minutes long it seems to be over and done in a flash. Track 5, ‘The Grind’ follows with a massive wall of sound. Somehow they lads have made it sound as though there are about ten guitars on this track – brilliant – definitely the heaviest sounding track on the EP, and another example of how this group have played and played their tunes and completely nailed them. There is not a single glitch anywhere on this song.

On the CD version of the EP, ‘The Grind’ fades straight into the final track ‘Coming Home’, although online ‘Coming Home’ is available to download as a track in its own right. It starts with an epic last song of the album kind of feel, and this is pulled throughout the duration of the track. Again, the guitar sounds created by Casey are out of this world, as I’ve previously said he is easily one of the top five unsigned guitarists in Sheffield at the moment and again lead singer Andy intertwines with the guitars to give the song an energy which pulls the sound out of the speakers. A great song to end the EP on.

The Last Standing finished 2011 with a huge gig at the Frog & Parrot on Dec 23rd, if you weren’t lucky enough to be there I’m sure they’ll be out and about this spring playing live and 2012 promises to be their biggest year so far.

Words by
James Whitworth