The Last "Painting Smiles On A Dead Man" 1983 + "Fade To Black" 1983 - 7"/45rpm EP

3rd album by this legendary L.A. pop band led by Joe Nolte and featuring Vitus Matare.Influenced by ’60s surf, psychedelia, and folk-rock, brothers Joe (guitar), Mike (vocals), and David Nolte (bass) of Los Angeles formed the Last in 1976, along with associates Jack Reynolds (drums) and Vitus Matare (keyboards). The Last might be considered a seminal indie band, having released early singles on their own label, Backlash. Their first album, L.A. Explosion, released in 1979 on the Bomp! label, has been lauded as a powerful and nearly perfect first effort.
The Last recorded a second album, Look Again, in 1980 on Backlash and distributed it privately. In 1982, they returned to Bomp! for the EP Fade to Black, and then completed Painting Smiles on a Dead Man for Lolita Records before disbanding in 1985. David Nolte left to join Wednesday Week and eventually ended up in Lucky. The band reformed in 1988 with Luk Lohnes on guitar and vocals, Missy Buettner on bass, and Robbie Rist on drums joining Joe and Mike Nolte from the original lineup. That year they toured outside of California for the first time and released Confessions on the SST label. Two more releases on SST have followed -- Awakenings in 1989 and Gin & Innuendo in 1996. Dave Nazworthy replaced Rist on drums during the recording of Awakenings, and David Nolte has a cameo appearance on that album as well. Nazworthy also plays for the Chemical People.
Through the personnel changes, the Last have maintained a consistent style of potent power-pop, heavily influenced by the local music they grew up listening to in Southern California. ~ Nick Kemper, All Music GuideThe Last:
Steve Andrews (Guitar), John Frank (Drums), Vitus Mataré (Flute, Keyboards), David Nolte (Bass, Vocals, Guitar), John Rosewall (Bass, Vocals)

traxfromwax:
01 Wrong Turn 02 It Had To Be You 03 Isn't Anybody There 04 Lightning Strikes 05 Louie Louie 06 December Song 07 Everybody Had It With You 08 Weekend Girl 09 Failing Heart 10 Leper Colony 11 What's In There 12 Up In The Air

"Fade To Black" 1983 - 7"/45rpm EPThe Last are a pop-rock band from Los Angeles, CA, led by singer/guitarist/songwriter Joe Nolte. Joe and his brother, Mike (keyboards, vocals, & occasional songwriting), have been the only constant members of the band since its formation in the mid 1970s. The band spawned from the same scene the launched such bands as Black Flag, Redd Kross, the Descendents, and the Circle Jerks. The early line-ups also included another Nolte brother, David, on bass and Vitus Mataré on keyboards and flute. In 1979, this line-up (including drummer Jack Reynolds), recorded their first album, "LA Explosion!", now considered a classic amongst the band's fans. In 1980, the band, with new drummer John Frank, recorded a follow up titled "Look Again" which has never been officially released. The following years were spent dealing with various line-up changes. In 1983, "Painting Smiles On A Dead Man", a collection of demos, was released. In 1985, following more line up changes, the band split. In 1987, Joe and Mike resurrected the band with a new line up that included Luke Lohnes (guitar), Larry Manke (bass), and Dave Nazworthy (drums) and signed a deal with SST Records. In 1988 "Confessions" appeared, followed in 1989 by "Awakening". Unfortunately for the band, neither album sold very well and "Awakening" cost so much to produce that it allegedly caused severe repercussions for the label. Despite this, SST was willing to do another album with the band, but Joe Nolte was so disillusioned by the group's 1989 tour that it took some time to get motivated for a new record. The band began recording a follow-up in 1991 but, due to scheduling issues, the record was not completed until 1994. After that, the band got caught up in a contract renegotiation with SST that delayed the release even further and the final product, entitled "Gin & Innuendoes" did not appear until 1996. Since then, the band has continued to exist, playing shows occasionally. Most recently, the rhythm section duties have been handled by Karl Alvarez and Bill Stevenson (both of the Descendents and ALL). - discogs

trax:
01 Fade To Black 02 That's Just Life 03 Obsession 04 Subway Song