The Last Act

About TLA

How Long is Long Enough?

Question for indie bands going through the motions on their way to achieving their dreams–how many years should the core members of a group endure hard knocks, challenges and ridiculously mounting, ongoing shifts of personnel before they find the right chemistry? Bringing a fresh, blistering and melodic fire to the classic hard rock/heavy metal sounds they were influenced by, Calgary based powerhouse The Last Act has the perfect answer: as long as it takes. And as long as they’re Still Standing—the name of their compelling and cathartic new full length album.

To snag the title of one of the collection’s key hard-hitting songs, The Last Act was once “Left For Dead” by many critics and naysayers. Founding members, twin brothers Jeff (guitar) and Paul Larsen (bass), who began playing together as very young adults, were determined to survive the stops and starts, not to mention the bad advice which led them to the initial and premature release of their third CD, which was less than stellar. Their patience paid off. Lead singer (and songwriter) Jason Turnbull, who joined in 2007, and the incredible 19 year old drummer Taylor Sanderson take The Last Act to a songwriting and live performance level that the Larsens could have only imagined a few years ago while struggling through the also-rans. The resulting vibe has an old school rock kind of feel but is explosive and contemporary even as it draws power and inspiration from current seminal hard rock/metal bands and from the last 40 years.

The effect of all of this on the listener is powerful, moving, and emotional, which can’t be said about a lot of rock that’s being made these days. One thing for sure is that it has so many people saying “F*** YEAH!” while listening to it. Especially those who are serious about their rock music.

“Still Standing is about just that: still standing after everything we have been through,” says Jeff. “The band is still here. We set up our own studio for this disc and that helped us get quite a good product in the end. Jason brings so much to the table as a songwriter, adding perspective on sound and melody to what Paul and I do. It’s mainly been the three of us writing together for a while, and now we’re excited to be working on new material with Taylor, who is a great writer as well as a monster drummer. Creatively, we’re really in an exciting place.”

A handful of the 12 songs perfectly capture the band’s thriving spirit via lyrics and musical intensity. “Still Standing” is all about changes for the better, the belief that nothing good could happen until they removed the stale inventory. “Habitat For Insanity” is most obviously about a romantic relationship but could easily apply to the crazy personality issues that kept The Last Act from getting to where they needed to be musically and emotionally. Balancing the mostly angry spirit of “Left For Dead” is the tender “Lena’s Song” (which Jeff wrote for his wife) and the melodic, edgy and optimistic cathartic instrumental “Burning Stack.”

In addition to doing regular shows in their home region of Alberta (such as the Distillery in downtown Calgary and Tracks Pub in Olds, Alberta), they’ve packed clubs and dance floors everywhere from Edmonton to towns in the surrounding provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia—including a Halloween show in Hanna, hometown of Nickelback. With a lineup and recording that fully lives up to the Larsens’ original vision of The Last Act, they’ve also built a growing fan base of several thousand beyond their home region via their popular Facebook page.