On the heels of The Last Gang’s previous single, “Noise Noise Noise” comes their second single, “Gimme Action.” You can hear it premiering HERE, or any other digital service provider. TLG’s new album drops on October 8th, and was produced by Fat Mike of NOFX, Yotam Ben Horin of Useless ID, and Cameron Webb. If you haven’t pre-ordered the album, grab it HERE.
Here’s what The Last Gang had to say about the song:
“‘Gimme Action’ is lyrically inspired by La Mulâtresse Solitude, as well as the protests that swept through cities across the globe after the murder of George Floyd. The song is a battle cry for real, meaningful action, and change in the fight against systemic racism, police brutality, and social injustice.”
The year is 2021. America is still fighting its way through an ongoing pandemic, currently fueled by the ignorance of millions who have decided science isn’t good enough for them. Countless lives have been lost or disrupted by an inefficient government loaded with corrupt politicians, egged on by snake oil salesmen who are inexplicably given nightly platforms on cable TV or allowed to spread their disinformation through social media. Make no mistake: Rome is burning. We are fiddling.
Pissed off yet? So is The Last Gang. This California punk quartet had big plans for 2020, with a seemingly endless string of tour dates keeping them on the road in support of their Fat Wreck Chords debut, Keep Them Counting. Crowds were getting bigger. Sing-alongs were getting louder. Spirits were getting higher. The only problem? The band was trying to write a new record simultaneously, and it wasn’t going well.
“Our downfall is we want to tour a lot, but it’s sometimes hard for us to write because it takes so much out of me,” begins frontwoman Brenna Red. When the world came to a standstill in March 2020, it was actually a blessing in disguise for Red. She could finally focus on everything happening outside of their tour van — and she quickly realized it wasn’t pretty.
“Because COVID happened, I was allowed to not rush, and we stepped back and re-wrote songs,” she explains. “Then I went to Fat Mike’s to write with him, and he challenged me to write more Clash-influenced reggae. I listened to London Calling to get inspired, but I think Joe Strummer once said if you want to be inspired, don’t listen to your idols — listen to your idols’ idols. So I also listened to a lot of Toots And The Maytals and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, and a ton of Trojan Records compilations.”
One listen to Noise Noise Noise, and you’ll discover a band who has not only pushed their musical boundaries in new and unexpected ways, but a lyricist in Red who has unlocked a new side of herself, spitting barbs both personal and political at whoever might listen. “We’re obviously punk at our core,” she says. “People expect to hear something, and that can become tedious and somewhat boring. But when you throw somebody a curveball, if they hate it, that’s fine. But more than likely, they’re gonna go, ‘What is this?’ and it’ll pull them more into the album.”
Noise Noise Noise is nothing if not full of curveballs. The album opens with the “Guns Of Brixton”-esque title track, the first of the album’s many forays into guitar upstrokes and elastic basslines. The next curveball comes in the very next track, “WFTW,” the rare punk song that’s four minutes long, and feeling a little bit like Searching For A Former Clarity-era Against Me! with Red cramming as many syllables into her verses as humanly possible. It’s also one of many new songs elevated by lead guitarist Ken Aquino, making his recorded debut with the now-quartet.
“Ken is a great lead guitar player, but my huge thing I love about Ken is at his core, he’s a melody man — he can sing pretty,” she gushes. “He adds so much to our band.” Aquino, also used to work in the same studio as producer Cameron Webb (Motörhead, Sum 41), who just so happened to be behind the boards for Noise Noise Noise (which was also co-produced by NOFX’s Fat Mike and Useless ID’s Yotam Ben Horin). Red was thrilled to reunite with Webb, who previously produced Keep Them Counting. “I know he’s not going to let me sound bad,” she says. “He’s going to push me.”
Look no further than “Shameless,” a true gem of the album, a melodic punk banger with Red turning in a career-best vocal performance. The curveballs keep coming deep into the tracklisting, with the sludgy 6/8 tune “Intelligence Is A Plague.” In it, Red fires salvo after salvo at the ignorant masses as well as the publications that prey upon them (marking what is probably the first time alt-right “news” outlet Breitbart has been name-checked in a song).
“It was inspired by this overwhelming feeling of ‘Why aren’t we listening to the people who can tell us how to fix these huge problems?’ COVID, climate change, you name it. To me, it’s like, ‘I don’t know what to do, so I’m going to listen to you.’ But those people don’t want to be humble. They’d rather be ignorant and feel like they’re right.”
This gets to the crux of Noise Noise Noise: These songs speak to her, and she hopes they speak to you, too. “I write music just to be alive,” she concludes. “I hope there’s something that can be taken from it to make you feel that electricity inside of yourself, whether happiness, pain, bittersweet memories… Just pick apart the art and put it inside of your own life.”
The Last Gang Tour Dates:
* 15 Sep 2021 in Grand Junction, CO, US @ Mesa Theater
* 16 Sep 2021 in Salt Lake City, UT, US @ Metro Music Hall
* 17 Sep 2021 in Casper, WY, US @ Keg and Cork
* 18 Sep 2021 in Fort Collins, CO, US @ The Coast
* 19 Sep 2021 in Colorado Springs, CO, US @ Black Sheep
* 26 Sep 2021 in Las Vegas, NV, US @ Punk Rock Bowling 2021
* 3 Nov 2021 in Sacramento, CA, US @ Holy Diver
* 4 Nov 2021 in Albany, CA, US @ Ivy Room
* 5 Nov 2021 in Ventura, CA, US @ Gigi’s Cocktail Lounge
* 6 Nov 2021 in San Diego, CA, US @ Brick By Brick
* 6 Nov 2021 in Silverado, CA, US @ Punk In The Park 2021
* 8 Nov 2021 in Las Vegas, NV, US @ The Dive Bar
* 9 Nov 2021 in Scottsdale, AZ, US @ Pub Rock Live
* 10 Nov 2021 in El Paso, TX, US @ Rockhouse
* 11 Nov 2021 in San Antonio, TX, US @ The Rock Box
* 12 Nov 2021 in Houston, TX, US @ White Oak
* 13 Nov 2021 in Dallas, TX, US @ Trees
* 15 Nov 2021 in Oklahoma City, OK, US @ The Blue Note
* 17 Nov 2021 in Kansas City, MO, US @ RecordBar
* 17 Nov 2021 in Urbana, IL, US @ Rose Bowl Tavern
* 18 Nov 2021 in Cincinnati, OH, US @ Northside Yacht Club
* 19 Nov 2021 in Cleveland, OH, US @ Grog Shop
* 20 Nov 2021 in Chicago, IL, US @ Chop Shop
* 21 Nov 2021 in Indianapolis, IN, US @ Melody Inn
Noise Noise Noise track-listing
1. Noise Noise Noise
2. WFTW
3. Prosthetic Lost Cause
4. Shameless
5. Panic Dreaming
6. Gimme Action
7. New Skin
8. Paris Green
9. Intelligence Is a Plague
10. To the King