The Last Gang

Sing For Your Supper [7-inch] (2017)

Ricky Frankel

The Last Gang have been a fairly popular Southern California band since 2007 (and since they reformed in 2012). They have put out a solid amount of material over their career, but many of you who may not be involved in the LA and OC punk scenes may remember their great cover of Rancid’s “Cocktails” for the 2015 Hooligans compilation. The band came on to my radar a little before then and I even managed to see them when they opened for Tartar Control and Rats In The Wall at the Redwood Bar & Grill in December 2015.

Now the three-piece has gotten the recognition that they deserve. They are Fat Wreck Chords’ latest addition and have released their new 7-inch titled Sing For Your Supper which features two brand new songs. The title track starts of with a funky bass line and after a sudden stop, the rest of the band burst into a heavily palm muted verse. The song really takes off at the chorus where there is a burst energy coming mainly from lead singer Brenna Red’s blaring guitar and gruff and anthemic vocals. “Turn The Record Over” also starts out with catchy bass line, but this track gets much more aggressive than “Sing For You Supper.” Brenna’s singing is much faster and the rest of the band’s voices are put to use quite a bit in the gang vocals that appear frequently throughout the song. Instead of just palm muting from the guitar, Brenna threw in a fuzzy, little riff to mix things up. “Turn The Record Over” also slows down about half way for the bridge where you can hear Brenna hit some higher singing notes. And then the track picks back up to its original speed for a big finish.

After a few listens of each song, you will see that the comparisons made of The Last Gang to The Distiller are pretty fair, but The Last Gang have a brought a much more modern edge to the table and that’s what really makes them stand out especially when it comes to this 7-inch. It feels familiar, yet it sounds completely new and vibrant at the same time making it very approachable.

Sing For Your Supper gives the wider general punk scene a really good taste of what The Last Gang is all about. If these two songs are just the tip of the iceberg, I think we should expect some more great releases from them in the future.