Last Man Standing - False Starts & Broken Promises

Genre alternative Publisher Wildflower Records External Links

False Starts and Broken Promises is an immensely entertaining album. Even though the overall ambience was dark and foreboding, since its muse woke up on the wrong side of bed after moonlighting as a drag queen, it ended on an ironically hopeful note. Another review from the December ’08 issue of UNCUT Magazine said that “their vision of wild-hearted losers, misfits and a world in collapse somehow holds everything together.” I agree and applaud their ability to challenge the status quo and maintain a distinct voice despite pressure to conform to industry standards. The album’s burlesque finale, “Theme for the Last Man Standing,” which coincidentally was the best song on the entire album, was a perfect ending to the whole circus freak show. The piano, brass, percussion, electronic elements, and Velvet Underground-esque lyrics blended seamlessly to form an intriguing story.

The music was pretty cool. Each song drew me deeper into a dark fantasy of sitting with Shaun and Ed, kicking back a spectrum of whiskey, lager, and cider drinks at the Winchester Pub while having strange premonitions of a zombie apocalypse. That being said: I would love to hang out with this eccentric orchestral and jazz ensemble. I bet the nine of them are outrageous, obnoxious, and to their credit, absolutely fabulous. However, their lead singer, Max Vanderwolf, should rethink his career options. He would succeed brilliantly on Broadway. Someone mark my words: if he starts an acting career, he will explode like the Hindenburg. The combination of his androgyny, theatrical performances and the over-the-top campy music is something out of a contemporary Rocky Horror Picture Show.  If Vanderwolf could pull off a live show while rolling around the stage on a motorcycle ala Meatloaf, it’d win a Tony and my heart.