Additional Details

Additional details

Been Together Since: 2003

Sounds Like: Hardcore/screamo with a light side.

Members

Andy Moths -- drums
Kevin Pool -- bass, vocals
Nava -- vocals
Richard Sherwood -- guitar
Derek Young -- guitar, vocals

MP3S

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Systems That Fail Hard

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Audio Interview

Discography

The Last Place You Look EP, 2004
For You It's Something New... EP, 2005

Where To Buy

• iTunes

Review

Musical cooperation - and mutual respect - are the first rules of engagement for the Last Place You Look.

It's not always easy. Each member of the Houston-based hard-core-rock quintet - charismatic lead singer Nava, guitarists Richard Sherwood and Derek Young, bassist Kevin Pool and drummer Andy Moths - has wildly different tastes.

``What we try to do is incorporate one of the five elements (of each of us),'' Nava says. ``We have a little circle in the center where we can all kind of agree on a few things. It's really easy to go there.

``The latitude of acceptance is pretty wide in some areas, pretty narrow in others. It's a work in progress.''

Moths, who moved to Houston from Milwaukee in late 2001, agrees, adding, ``It's very genuine. Something will hit, and . . . it will spawn something in all of us. We'll write a song in one night.''

Indeed, the group has proven wildly productive in its 2½ years together. The Last Place You Look has self-financed and released two EPs and has embarked on self-booked tours of the West Coast and the Midwest.

The group's third EP is due Jan. 27. The five searing, relentlessly aggressive tracks were produced by Mark Townsend and John Glover, who have also helmed projects for locals the Finalist and Morningside Drive.

``It's the first time we've done a real CD on our terms,'' Nava says. ``We worked with the producer, paid for studio time, went to an actual studio environment. We scraped together money and found some really good people.''

I've Got a Question for You, Why Are You Still Here and They Only Give Medals to Heroes are anchored by startling bursts of rock energy and Nava's piercing vocal power. But it's not all a full-decibel attack. Each track dips and soars on a cascade of tight guitar work, steady drums and blazing backing vocals. The music is intricate and intense but easy to appreciate.

Beyond the exhilaration of new music, the Last Place You Look is excited by its first CD release party, Jan. 27 at Fitzgerald's. The impressive lineup reads like a dean's list of Houston's hard-rock heroes and includes the Finalist, Morningside Drive, Otenki, Meriwhether and Eldridge.

With the same collaborative spirit that holds the music together, each member dutifully tackles promotional tasks to push the group's name into public consciousness - from merchandising and booking to songwriting and video production.

``I think that's what makes us up as a really awesome working force, together,'' Moths says. ``We all take a part of a project. It gets done really fast.''

The Last Place You Look has plans for shows in Louisiana and Oklahoma soon, along with an East Coast tour later this year. Houston, however, remains a hopeful focal point for the band - and an unabashed source of inspiration.

``I've been playing in this scene for 10 years, and this point is the most exciting time for the Houston scene,'' Nava says. ``This town has been riddled with bands that could have been great, and it's riddled with bands that had a chance to be great. For the first time, there are a lot of bands putting out great music and doing good business, and they're all working together.''

-- Joey Guerra | January 19, 2006