..Andre 'Peppermint' Shapps;
Chris ''I-was-made-for-loving-you'' Cordoba;
Herbacious Keys,
Wylsie of Camberwell;
Max Vanderwolf: Professional Charlatan;
Lionel Hoops the sad-eyed elephant boy;
No-More-Nora (whore to the stars);
the binky twins,
philip seemore hoffman and his dancing hard-to-describe thing,
alpa chino, The Legendary Mr. Art Terry;
the toungue CLICK TO SEE VIDEO FOOTAGE OF OUR SICK LITLE CREW
Influences
Max Bialystock, Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant, Mott the Hoople, Cab Calloway, Tex Avery, Nick Cave, Count Chocula, The Rutles, Gong, Barry Adamson, They Came From the Stars I Saw Them, Neil Young, Serge Gainsbourg, Skeleton Key, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weil, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Buzzcocks, Neil Young, Ennio Morricone, Antonin Artaud, Patti Smith, Dmitry Shoshtakovich, Ernie Kovacs, Quay Brothers, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of invention, Fats Waller, Lord Buckley, Moondog, Rasputin, various assasins of the 1960's, George Clinton and Funkadelic, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Alice Cooper, the Chicago Eight, Ojays, Spinners, Philly Soul, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Egon Schiele, Lee Scratch Perry, T-Rex, Hank Williams, Duke Ellington, Bob Marley, Charles Mingus, Outkast, Soundtrack to Hair, Sammy David Jr., the Grateful Fuckin Dead, Wm S. Burroughs, Pete Townshend, The Specials, Sufijan Stevens, Spititualized, Mercury Rev, Joana Newsom, Can, Kraftwerk, George and Ira Gershwin, the Pixies, Cardinal, Super Furry Animals, Public Enemy, Igor Stravinsky, Biz Markie, Violent Femmes, Public Image Ltd., Tom Waits, the Banana Splits, The Byrds, Muddy Waters, John Zorn, Henry Mancini, Cat Power, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Howie Pyro, Danny and the Juniors, the Cramps, Charles Kaufmann's Films, Supergrass, Spike Jones, The Monkees, Black Sabbath, Carl Stalling, The Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt, Brian Eno, Air, Aphex Twin, The Arcade Fire, Badfinger, Barry White, the Beach Boys, Black Grape, Jan Svankmeyer films, The Pink Floyd, Divine Comedy, Dr. John, Flamin Lips, Little Feat, Gnarls Barkley, Incredible String Band, The Pretty Things, Thelonius Monk, Monty Python, Jacques Brel, Jimi Hendrix, Jimi Tenor, Joe Strummer, Velvet Underground, the Beat, Link Wray, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Richman, Julian Cope, Yes, 13th Floor Elevators, Nina Hagen, Regina Spektor, Nico, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, (girls in general arepretty spectacular lets face it), John Cale, David Bowie, Lambchop, Lemon Jelly, Haskell Wexler, Dennis Hopper, Mr. Bungle, Black Mountain, Leon Russell, The Polyphonic Spree, Gogol Bordello, Randy Newman, Rasputina, Rashaan Roland Kirk, the Residents, Richard Hell, Sparks, Robyn Hitchcock, Screamin Jay Hawkins, Scott Walker, Coen Brothers, Shangri-Las, Sigur Ros, Bob Dylan Beatles and the Stones.
Sounds Like
Four Stars- MOJO Magazine January Issue:
When did our capital’s rock scene last throw up a nonet? When, come to that, did it produce anything much besides Libertines wannabes and ‘’postpunk’? On both counts last man Standing are quite extraordinary. Their name derives from the embattled romantic life of their frontman, Max Vanderwolf. As signposted by the album title, his lyrical world is one of dissapointment and regret and unutterable sleaze, from which he emerges, song by song, bleary yet unbeaten. ‘’I’m so damnede depressed,” he yowls on the stomping Queen Kong, ‘’I just gotta rock’’. And rock his eight cohorts do, with a bredth of vision which encompasses the more ambitious end of glam (Aladin Sane, Bolans Zinc Alloy) and the cabaret splendour of Alex Harvey, even Tom Waits at his most theatrical. This blast of low-life pungency feels like a righteous breath of fresh air. - Andrew Perry
Three Stars - UNCUT December issue
Max Vanderwolf’s band have a colorful ingenuity of Bowie’s 70’s floorshows and the wild spirit of Tom Waits- which means the are essentially rock theatre, but with attitude. Stylisitically they cram alot- sometimes too much- in, but the policy usually works. This collection of bedragled songs duly incorporates the cabaret angst of ‘70s Lou Reed, dustbowl Mariachi, and Steely Dan cynicism. Their vision of wild-hearted losers, misfits and a world in collapse somehow holds everything together. -Gavin Martin
Where did it all go so wrong for Max Vanderwolf? When did he lose his faith
in love and goodwill? Why did he give it away so callously or casually ?
And what did he trade it in for? Some songs? Some words? Some memories
of a vaguely good time that will haunt him for his remaining years?
Considering the reaction to the debut album by his band Last Man Standing, 'False Starts and Broken Promises', it may have been a fair trade. The songs are memorable,
the lyrics powerful, and it sounds like he's stumbled down a colourful if crooked path.
"I thought, if I let these themes takeover the songs, maybe they would get
out of my life. I thought that by their very materialization as a song that
somehow I would be redeemed. I thought that I could give these problems
to you or you or you... Then I could report it all at a safe distance like
someone commentating from the sidelines of hell. But it didn't happen
that way."
Vanderwolf felt this darkness grow inside of him. And after several attempts at recording a new record, the New York-based songwriter gave up and slipped in and out of various forms of self-abuse. Various demo tapes circulated through the music community and they became well-known amongst the community of underground song-writers.
Robyn Hitchcock recalls, ‘’He was taking all the wrong stuff. Bagels with too many capers, cream-cheese with lox from the wrong side of Delancey. One morning I found him clutching his guitar on Broome St, staring vacantly into an empty cup of chicken noodle soup:
"What's up, Max?" I enquired
"Up? Up..." muttered Max as if he'd never encountered the word up before,
and had decided to take it for a walk. "Up? Up is down and back again"
He thrust his Telecaster towards me, then thinking better of it, slung it over his
shoulder and padded down into the subway. He grimaced and was gone.
I realized I hadn't offered him one of my antacids.
Poor Max - that finely tuned stomach would be the death of him. Yet his new
album was already advertised in Bleeker Bobs. Jon Fox had been playing the
shit out of on WNYU, and hopes were high.
But nothing more would come of it. Vanderwolf turned his back on music production
he left his hometown of New York City and moved to London in 2000 vowing to keep
his head out of the trappings of imagination but it wouldn't last long.
"Its a cycle. I'm a workingman. You could say I work in a factory. I work long hours and have responsibilities beyond my capabilities but I somehow hold it together. And then, I start to feel desperate and crazy and I think: this can't be it. There’s got to be something more. And the only healthy way to escape is to follow the dream, follow the music. Just write a little, just play a little, just record a little. Soon I'm 9-men strong ensemble. Personal standards must be met and the demands on ones purse and personal sacrifice must be justified with a plan for success- no matter how preposterous the plan is: Yes folks we're bringing back big band values and raw decadence and composerly electric sounds in 2007 single-handedly because I say so…. Then I go mad until
I crash and have to straighten myself out again with a dose of reality."
Thrusting himself back into a world of despair and obsessed with artistic endeavour Vanderwolf finds himself in rehab. In an attempt to maintain normalcy, he joins a rehab book club where he is immediately discovered by guitarist and former-pill popper, Chris Cordoba who has himself experienced the verisimilitudes of the music business: "His demo tapes were widely known to the few in-the-know that knew. They were the stuff of legend – well, sub-legend--or probably sub-sub legend. After a discussion on that weeks’ reading--Evelyn Waugh, I think it was, I asked him point blank: can I produce your next recording? He agreed immediately without knowing a thing about me. We dropped out of rehab that week and started on the record."
Soon the band was playing gigs to enthusiastic audiences. A regular fixture at
burlesque parties in London, the band was invited to perform at the Paradiso in Holland for the ‘’London Calling Festival’’, support slots with the Polyphonic Spree, Sparks, Violent Femmes, a tour with Bobby Conn, a slot with the White Stripes Festival in Hyde Park, a weekly residency at Madame Jojo's and festivals including Glastonbury, Lovebox Weekender, Secret Garden Party and Electric Picnic Festival in Dublin.
Now I'm in deep again," says Vanderwolf. " And I'm losing my mind…
everything must go. Sacrifice it all. Damn the torpedoes. March, soldier.
I can almost taste victory. Or is that nerve gas?
All this had led to a brave NY independent label stepping up and declaring that this record needs to be heard. Even better that had the guts, nerve and muscle to release for the first time in UK properly and for the first time ever in Europe. The band will support the release by touring the festival circuit with like-minded similarly depraved artists with the Launch of the Last Man Standing Saloon.
From an article in the Londonist
http://www.londonist.com/archives/2006/02/my_coach_traine.php
Where does the name come from?
A lot of stumbling about along the human highway
Who's in the band?
An assortment of downtrodden & bedraggled misfits most of them named Andre, Artemis, or Quint. The guitarist is Cordoba. It is said he once killed a man with his guitar. My name is Max Vanderwolf.
What do you do in the real world?
I like funny movies, reciting sonnets, holding hands, long walks on the beach, a drink at the colony room, and imagining myself as cultural dictator. It can be very time-consuming. I dont have time for much else.
Describe your sound to us:
Soundtrack to someone's downfall. Its full-tilt rockin and veers recklessly into the fragile, the collection of songs on the album is like a box of bonbons all delicately laced with 10 different flavours of bitterness.
How did you all get together?
AA drop-outs.
Who are your influences?
Max Biallystock, Cab Calloway, Leon Russell, Tex Avery, Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant, Devo, Robyn Hitchcock, Morricone, Nietzsche, John Barry, Brecht-Weill, Lewis Carroll, Patti Smith, Emmit Kelly Jr., Mott The Hoople, James Booker, Egon Schiele, The Kinks, Ian Dury and the 5 or 6 contemporary bands that are willing to stand up against the rising tide of corporate indie-rock conformity. George Harrison occasionally visits me from the beyond to help out when I'm writing a song.
Is it true you're friends with Tim DeLaughter of the Polyphonic Spree. If that's the case, what's it like being on the road with those guys. Weird hippy dippy cult, or loveable loons in robes?
They abducted my sister. Several of my friends have succumbed to their ways. They're dangerous people. Dont let those angelic faces and bold anthems of self-realization fool you. Those people will take over this world faster than the Chinese. Make sure you look good in a robe. They cant be stopped.
What's the big game plan for the band?
Self-sustenance has to be the main objective for any artist. We're starving. We need to hit the road hard and show the world what a full-on rock show is all about. Once thats established I can unleash my secret plan for making everyone wear mauve.
Who would you most like to support?
We'd go down well with fans of Calexico, Nick & The Bad Seeds, Kings of Leon, Macy Gray, Rufus Wainwright, Zutons, White Stripes, Lambchop,..Otis Redding still gigging?
What's your ultimate label to be on?
Gods'.. never a change of upper management. He's got the ultimate rolodex. Can pull lots of favors and get you on the best tours, tv, etc.
What's the best gig you've ever been to?
The Who...Patti Smith...The Boredoms...Vic Chesnut...too many..dont get me started..
Have you ever thrown a TV out of a hotel window?
No but I threw my back out trying
Would you like to?
Once I'm through with my physical therapyI'm trainingI lift a small TV everyday in preparation for the real thing. My coach trained Keith Moon.
Any great stories from the road?
Nah just the same wacky nonsense you've heard from every other band.
Recommend one album to our readers you don't think they will have discovered:
Not sure how deeply informed your readership is so: Cardinal for the deeply informed..they recorded one record in 1994 its gorgeous. Rockbottom by Robert Wyatt for those a bit wet behind the ears.
Why should Londonist readers go and see you?
Its a partyyou get to suffer with me and laugh at how miserable we all are. Doesnt that sound like fun?
What's your favourite...
...venue to play In London?
Koko was pretty rockin wasnt it?
...venue to go to in London?
Any place you can get more than a Carling or a Grolsch at the bar-- and wherever they invest their booze money in a good sound system.
...record store?
Everyone probably says Rough Trade so i'll say Mole's Jazz..they still going?
What advice would you give Nicky Gavron until Ken's back?
Stop lying to us about why the tubes cant run all night. Stop selling out London culture and London lives to globalism.
What London place or thing would you declare a landmark?
All of Camden Lock, Camden Stalls, Camden Electric Ballroom. Keep Camden rock n roll!
The world is ending in 24 hours. How would you spend your last day in London?
Getting out probably.
Have you ever been sick on the Tube?
No but I'm sick of the Tube.
If you could lose one part of London, which part would it be...
The perpetual scam of it all.
Greatest thing ever to come out of London?
ROCK MUSIC- Jah bless the UK, Jah bless London
If you wrote a song about London what would it be called and what kind of song would it be?
I think I might call for some kind of consumer revolution. Londoners pay so much for so little and come back for more blind and dazzled by media-hype and Big Brother. The mark-up on goods, the parking violations conspiracy, the selling out of small businesses to large chains, all short-sighted. I wont be writing about my auntie serving me tea in the sitting room, leave that to Ray Davies. He's the best. I'm hopelessly yankee.
And finally...
Sum up London in just one word:
Marc Bolan said it best: its a RIP-OFF
The Opium Den is back to bring you fireworks on the 4th July.
With performances from the Stillhouse Orchestra, Sam Astley and Craig Temple providing bluesy hillbilly rockin sounds to dance and sing along to and The Opium Den Madame Amanda Mae Steele and Miss Rose Thorne providing the Burlesque you'd be mad to miss it.
There will as always be the delectable opium tea served up to those who need it! And also the inimitable Lydia Darling providing the tunes for you to dance to.
Join us for another Big City Redneck Presents! Another wonderful eruption, nay, ejaculation of good music at the Buffalo Bar this month!
What can I say? We won’t disappoint.
Buffalo Bar June 19th £6 on the door… 8.30pm till they kick us out…
Mama Shamone http://www. myspace. com/mamashamone “Put Mama Shamone on at any venue and they are likely to take the roof off, this was one of the best live shows I’ve seen in years - certainly one of the best in London. In my opinion these guys are destined for greatness, it felt like I was witnessing history being shaped-something was just so right about what they were doing up there.” Vibe Bar
We Yes You No www. myspace. com/weyesyouno “We Yes You No sing about the end of the world, the end of everything. But in an apocalypse that would sound like this I would buy god’s last EP” – Big City Redneck
Language http://www. myspace. com/languageuk “"The verbosity of funk, the poetic twang of intelligent pop. The bridge between Franz Ferdinand and Smashing Pumpkins perhaps" – Bugbear
Thanks for befriending the Mules. Nice songs you have here. Forgive my spamming, but by the sound of it you might enjoy our next gig : Love from the Mules. x
White Mischief "Around The World In 80 Days" - Saturday June 7 2008. The one night indoor festival with four themed rooms, two stages and interactive theatre surprises galore. Time Out called it "Event of the week, the month, the year. "
Live music includes Oojami, Ebony Bones, Ta Mere, The Outside Royalty and Tricity Vogue. Vaudeville, circus and cabaret includes Miss Behave, Dusty Limits, Ophelia Bitz, the Penny Dreadfuls plus aerial acrobatics, snake charming and more!
Nearly 50% sold out but group discounts and advance tickets still available.
WHITE MISCHIEF "Around The World In 80 Days", Saturday 7 June 2008 A One Night Festival of Unforgettable Live Music and Astounding Vaudeville Performances
Hosted by Tough Love and featuring Oojami, Ebony Bones, The Outside Royalty plus a Guinness World Record holding sword swallower, a snake charmer with a real live snake, an aerial acrobat and much more....full details at www. WhiteMischief..
Only two more chances to see the GAWKAGOGO FREAKSHOW at VIBE LIVE on Brick Lane!
This is a fantastic, full-length show, with an hour of great material from us, plus incredible special guests - and we're only performing it TWICE MORE in this version! (The last one will be on Wednesday 14th
..
..
