LAST: Alchemizes Righteous Outrage into Heaviest Record Yet

Before they were synth-driven, industrial sludge duo LAST, Chase Cluff and Ian Moore played on the same Junior Jazz team as elementary schoolers. Through 13 years and seven bands, Cluff and Moore’s symbiotic relationship remained the only constant. The strength of their friendship, and proven track record of effortless creative collaboration, kindled the inspiration to play as a two-piece. The name “LAST” holds a double meaning — Cluff and Moore’s security in their relationship promised them this would be the final band they started together because it would be the one to endure.

Both Cluff (synths, keys, vocals, samples) and Moore (drums, synths, vocals, samples) recall fond memories of their first punk and metal shows at Provo’s Starry Night, naming Salt Lake hardcore legends Parallax as performers that sparked a lifelong obsession with heavy music. “That was [my] first realization that anyone can play in a band,” Moore says. For Cluff, whose ever-growing passion for metal was once at odds with a strict LDS upbringing, the synthesizer’s power and versatility presented an opportunity to transform his obligatory piano skills into a canvas for crushingly heavy metal. Moore’s first musical endeavors were in the realm of psychedelic rock and shoegaze, but he says “it got heavier and heavier” through jam sessions with Cluff.

Their forthcoming record, Potent Desperation, promises to be LAST’s most aggressive yet, both in terms of sound and the righteous anger behind it. While personal grief and trauma informed 2021’s All Tunnel, No Light and 2023’s Sifting Through Ash for the Belongings of Our Loved Ones, Potent Desperation is driven by collective grief for and rage at the world. “There’s a more focused anger at politicians and billionaires and people actively destroying the world and profiting off of war … It’s hard to watch footage of a genocide happening in real time and not feel compelled to write about that,” Cluff explains. Moore adds that the two “pushed each other a lot more” while writing this record, which both describe as a very organic process. “I was able to level up as a drummer,” he says.

Potent Desperation was recorded with its vinyl release in mind. “It’s such a focus for us in the studio … thinking, ‘What’s gonna fit on that side? How’s it going to flow?’” Cluff explains. An avid collector and employee of Graywhale, Cluff firmly believes in the value of physical releases, as well as the full-length album as an authentic art form in the age of streaming, skipping and shuffling. “Putting out an album that’s meant to be listened to front to back is so important,” he states.

LAST have always recorded with Andy Patterson, who excels not only at creating a relaxed atmosphere that allows for an authentic performance but also at capturing the massive, pummeling sonic intensity of LAST live. “First and foremost, we’re a live band before anything,” Cluff says. Rather than individually tracking instruments, Potent Desperation was played in the studio exactly as it would be performed, allowing the record to more closely emulate the live LAST experience (which, for those unfamiliar, is equal parts bone-chilling and mesmerizing).

It’s only fitting that LAST’s first music video, directed by friend Conrad Mitchell, is a live performance video of “Munitions.” It’s intensified by spliced-in images of a burning American flag and flames encroaching at the edges of the frame as the track builds in intensity. This full-scale record release — teaser single, music video, vinyl and a tour — is LAST’s biggest album rollout yet, a triumphant celebration of the masterpiece the two have spent years crafting and refining.

LAST will be performing on Oct. 29 at Aces High Saloon with support from Gracemaker and Rothko Chapel to kick off their West Coast tour, which includes a Portland date supporting Salt Lake’s own The Keening.

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