Last Crack

Reformed '90s Madison, Wisconsin alternative hard rockers LAST CRACK have signed to EMP Label Group, the U.S.-based label of MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. The band's long-awaited third full-length album, "The Up Rising", will be released on May 31. Recorded during 2017-2019 at Megatone Studios in Madison, the LP will be the band's first studio release since 1991's critically acclaimed "Burning Time".

Formed in 1987, LAST CRACK recorded its first five-song demo and was brought to the attention of legendary Roadrunner A&R man Monte Conner, who signed the band and sent them off to Prince's Paisley Park to begin work on their 1989 Roadrunner debut, "Sinister Funkhouse #17".

The album, aptly named after their practice/storage unit they rented outside of Madison. Dedicating hours of playing in a hot, sweaty garage with vocalist Buddo scribbling lyrics on the walls, the original lineup of Buddo, Don Bakken and Paul Schluter on guitars, Todd Winger on bass, and Phil Buerstatte on drums, LAST CRACK was more than ready to unleash its heavy/quirky sound and visions to the world

With the release of "Funkhouse", LAST CRACK got the attention of the major metal magazines, and quickly developed a loyal fan base.


Their sophomore effort, "Burning Time", was recorded at Eldorado Studios in Hollywood with Dave Jerden, famed for recording iconic albums with JANE'S ADDICTION and ALICE IN CHAINS. The LP was met with critical acclaim and the band embarked on a tour of the U.S. and Europe.

EMP's Thom Hazaert commented: "Growing up in Wisconsin, LAST CRACK coming out of Madison was such a huge deal. I remember 'Burning Time' coming out, and it was like dynamite. They were really doing something that no one else was doing at the time. All the 'cool' kids loved them. They were always a band that was so ahead of their time, and it's a huge honor to release the follow-up to 'Burning Time', all these years later. Hopefully the world finally caught up."

Fueled by conflicts and industry pressures the band broke up just months after the "Burning Time" tour had begun, leaving all wondering what happened. Buerstatte would go on to play drums for WHITE ZOMBIE, while Buddo, Paul, Don and Todd all continued performing in several popular regional bands in Wisconsin.

In 2002, the band reunited with the original members, except for Buerstatte, who was replaced by Chris Havey. After releasing a live album with songs from both studio albums, LAST CRACK toured Iceland and the Netherlands, enjoying firsthand that they still had fans around the world. All five original band members were brought back together in November of 2009 for one date in Wisconsin. This would be the last time, as Buerstatte passed away in 2013. - Blabbermouth.net

Translated from Dutch with Google Translate:

The unsurpassed second album of the American band Last Crack still shines because of its absence in our section De Klassieker, but 'Burning Time' from 1991 is really one in my ears. At the time that grunge began to change the music landscape, Last Crack had gold in its hands with that record. Unfortunately, the extremely original content turned out to be a step too far for the slaves behind every trend of masses. After a short flirt with a new singer in 1994 produced a good third album but brought no success, Last Crack seemed to die a far too silent death. The band came over with the original singer Buddo in 2005 for a great performance at the Headway festival, also released a very strong live album and now there is a real comeback album. 'The Up Rising' takes away my fear of hearing an old-fashioned band at work, luckily already at the first listen. We still hear those wonderfully squeaking, abrasive, even sneaking guitars from 'Pablo' Schluter and Don Bakken. Add to that the characteristic voice of singer / poet Buddo and you get the unique Last Crack sound that comes into its own in idiosyncratic songs such as "Greta Grinder" and "Golden Age". "Siren Song" is also a great song. However, there are also a few lesser brothers in return. And in terms of sound, this new album has to make up for the unrivaled production that Dave Jerden gave to 'Burning Time'. But times and budgets have changed and the band does not have to be ashamed of anything with 'The Up Rising'. In fact: this is just a rock-solid comeback! - Aardschok Magazine (Netherlands)

Over the controlled chaos of Todd Winger’s bass, Chris Havey’s drums and the dual guitar assault from Paul Schluter and Don Bakken comes the earnest yowling of lead singer Buddo Xavier Rank. Their sound is even bigger than in 1987 when they were 18- to 22-year-olds in the Madison heavy metal band Last Crack.

These songs, heard through the mixing board at Megatone Studios off the West Beltline Highway, will be on “The Up Rising” — the third Rank/Last Crack studio album and the band’s first in 28 years. Using some drum and guitar tracks recorded a decade ago, the album was “99.5 percent mixed” in early December. The album will be released May 31 by EMP Label Group, an independent heavy metal record label founded by David Ellefson, the bassist for Megadeth.

“It’s what Crack has to do, had to do and just does,” a now gray-ponytailed Rank says from the studio couch about putting out the new record. “Even though 28 years has gone by, if we had recorded a third album within three to five years [after 1991’s ‘Burning Time’], this would be it.”

“It’s just the next logical step,” adds Schluter, co-owner of Megatone, Last Crack’s rehearsal space and home base.

“The Up Rising” is also the next step forward for a band that was considered groundbreaking by fans and critics before early success overwhelmed and broke up the group.

In the late 1980s and early ’90s, Last Crack was on the verge of commercial rock stardom. Signed by major label Roadrunner Records, they tracked their first album at Prince’s Paisley Park in Minnesota and had the second produced at Eldorado Studios in Hollywood by Dave Jerden — who helped hone the sound of Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains and other big rock bands of that era.

If you were among those watching “Headbangers Ball” on MTV in mid 1991, there’s a chance you saw in rotation Last Crack’s “Energy Mind.” The video focuses on Rank, who had the permed tresses and hairless chest required of a lead singer in a ’90s rock band.

On the road, Rank was prone to unpredictable antics at live shows that included starting a fire on stage, throwing his mic stand over the heads of audience members and sitting motionless during half a show until suddenly smashing his stool in the middle of the crowd.

“He got us arrested and detained in three different cities on tour,” Bakken says of Rank.

“It’s sort of cool looking back on it now, but I never liked it then,” Schluter says.

Rank sang in a punk rock band before Last Crack and was known to act out impulsively and emotionally onstage, but he says he was largely responding to pressure from the band’s record company to make shows more exciting. That pressure got to him, he says, culminating in his quitting the band just months after starting a tour of the U.S. and Europe in support of “Burning Time.”

Soon thereafter, original drummer Phil Buerstatte — whose loud personality frequently clashed with Rank’s — also left to join the heavy metal band White Zombie for a couple years. He died in 2013 in his early 40s.

The remaining members of Last Crack marched on, even recording a third album, “Runheadstartscreaming,” with vocalist Shawn Anthony Brown in 1994.

Since then, the members of Last Crack have played in numerous other Madison bands — Muzzy Luctin, Cudasigh, She Might Have a Gun and Magic 7, to name a few.

“We’ve all been in multiple different bands with greater control than we had in this band [Last Crack]. But things haven’t popped for any of those projects,” Rank says, his bandmates nodding in agreement.

In recent years, the near-original lineup of Last Crack (with soundman Havey having replaced Buerstatte) reunited to play shows — most notably by opening a sold-out Bon Jovi concert at the Kohl Center as the backing band for Oregon singer Trinity James in 2005; playing reunion shows in 2009, marking the 20th anniversary of their first album, “Sinister Funkhouse #17” (named after the storage unit in McFarland where the band initially practiced); and opening for Winger and Dokken in Wisconsin Dells in 2016.

Last Crack is back playing metal that is heavier, funkier and more progressive than what the popular “hair metal” or grunge bands were playing in their heyday.

“It was always said that we were ahead of our time,” Schluter says. “If we had made it to a third album, we could have been in that grouping somewhere with all those cool ’90s bands.”

While Last Crack picks up where it left off, a significant difference is that the new music is entirely the property of the band. Back in the day, studio and record label executives controlled the process and owned the final product. In contrast, “The Up Rising” was recorded and mixed by Schluter at his studio, and a GoFundMe campaign raised a modest $8,500 for the album’s production.

“The music’s paid for. It’s already copyrighted. It’s already on ASCAP [American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers]. So all this stuff is ours,” Rank says.

Rank pays his bills primarily as a real estate appraiser, and Bakken, Winger and Havey are all interior house painters. Each is either married or divorced and looking after teenage children.

While several of the guys continue to moonlight in bands other than Last Crack, only Schluter is working full-time as a musician. “I’ve got a recording studio, I play music and and I teach guitar lessons. And now we get to do this again,” Schluter says.

With the band members now all in their late 40s and early 50s, they argue that their new music is the product of maturity and seasoned musicianship.

“It was always a good band when we were wild and raw and immature,” Schluter says. “But we’re all so much smarter and wiser and mellower. And we’re still good.”

Joel Patenaude is associate editor of Madison Magazine. - Madison Magazine

25 July 2019 by Edwin van Hoof

With their debut release `Sinister Funkhouse #17’ (1987) kicking up dust upon its release, their follow up `Burning Time’ really pushed the envelope for Madison’s (WI) Last Crack. The band consisting of psychologist Buddo with the characteristic voice and lyrics, guitar tandem Don Bakken and Paul Schluter, and the driven rhythm section Todd Winger (bass) and Phil Buerstatte quickly climbed the musical ladder with their immaculate `Burning Time’ in 1990, which also lead to instant demise of the band while on tour. This unfortunate turn of events left many in despair, band as well as fans and journalists. The quick rise and unpredicted fall to this date still has many music fans questioning Last Crack’s unpredictable future and projected path to stardom. Reuniting in its classic line up, except the late Buerstatte who was replaced by Chris Havey, in 2002, Last Crack picked up where they left off in 1989, discarding their `Runheadstartscreaming’ release in 1994. Their mash of progressive dirty rock with sludge guitars and melodic choruses over distorted vocals was preceding the later grunge era by a mile. Ahead of their time Last Crack managed to fuse styles into a modern and honest classic rock styled cocktail with behexing melancholy in its undertone. Where the funky elements dominated the debut, `Burning Time’ was a lot more consistent and should have orbited the bands status. To this very day, the album is considered one of metal’s most overlooked releases of the last decades, by a band that should have achieved stardom soon after.

`The Up Rising’ of course is lacking the surprise of the old days. Now, Last Crack was NOT a grunge band, keep this in mind. Though they were ahead of their time, the band fused that particular genre’s (before it actually existed) key ingredients with progressive twists and turns. Buddo’s impressive vocals packed with charisma and drama added to the psycho lyrics, and they still do. The band has stopped time and turned back the clock reviving their ground breaking music that sounds, even to this day, remarkably fresh and crunchy. Benchmark traditional is the Rush-riff driven ,,Siren Song” immediately warping us back their classic style. ,,Golden Age” puts even more fuel to that fire. More melodic than ever the song opens and switches to Faith No More rap interaction with fierce riffs firing it up underneath Buddo’s hypnotizing vocals. The double bass kicks to propel the progressive carcass. ,,Icicle” packs an ominous beat with guitars pitching and echoing melody erupting with blunt force riffage and the reoccurring hovering pitched melody. The outcome creates an unwilling urge due to its persistence poise and the low-end throbbing bass line that pave way for Buddo’s eccentric vocal work. He is on edge, shifting between melodic top voice and loud shouting projecting inner tension. Buddo steps up frequently to pull the album forward with hypnotizing dominance adding to the lyrical content and excellent guitar interaction. Whammy guitars slay through the atmosphere heavy ,,Passenger” and Buddo echoes towering vocals with keys unleashing Jimmy Page reminiscent flying solos and riffage. Introvert is the immensely melodic and gripping ,,Blame”, again displaying the band’s impressive skills crafting gorgeous music with melodic and sticky appeal. Quirky like the debut is the following ,,Greta Grinder” which touches in between the Sinister of the debut and `Burning Times’ melodic throbbing discomfort. Being blindsided by the slick execution the song morphs with steep hooks and blunt riffs aligning with the quarter paced drum breaks, shifting shape again halfway in. The song is an intense sonic journey lasting only 4:53 summarizing their entire past. An absolute masterpiece is ,,Three Ghosts” which swirls with emotion and melancholy. Extremely accessible but very tension packed and melodic. Going all-progressive again with the drum flaked ,,Sensei”, they warp back to the title track of their second album. The song also feels like a follow up to ,`Burning Time’. Last Crack keeps this stop’n go prog motion present on ,,Paper Town” which has again too much going on with every breakdown following the chorus. Tribal heavy floors open ,,Discipline” with tremendous urge and the withheld anger is felt throughout the lyrics. Guitars switch between clean melodic with sound effects adding extra depth while they spit their fierce recognizable riffs on the choruses. Dominated by melody the song also oozes an elegant hypnotic 70’s vibe, like David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) on acid, or Alex Lifeson (Rush) going trippy. ,,Pinned” swirls in with African drum rolls and Americana undertone in its gritty driven guitar sound. Going all funky over and over the song packs impressive grooves over flabbergasting musicianship. The impeccable tension is retained after the discomforting intro opening ,,Bullet Train”. Ominous welling guitars underline Buddo’s typical vocals. Lingering on endlessly the song retains discomfort and dies out with didgeridoos taking it down at the end. Though not on par with the high qualities of the preceding 11 tracks, it seamlessly adds to the character of the album and makes it die out in withering awe-ness.

`The Up Rising’ is the perfect title for the band’s new album, rising up from the ashes. The tension marking their previous albums is all over present as is the impeccable musical craftsmanship. Guitars are riff heavy and shift with pitching and piercing melodies, and the interaction between Havey’s spectacular progressive drumming and Winger’s throbbing and sometimes funky flooding bass lines is perfectly matching the moods pasted in the song’s outlines. It all adds up spectacularly with Buddo laying down his charismatic vocal lines and psychotic vocals. He balances moods perfectly and switches between his most melodic voice, dramatic low register or loud shouted uproar to have the songs gain impressive momentum. The mesh of this musical interaction is smashing, creating no less than 11 masterpieces reclaiming their name and fame. SMASHING NEW ALBUM – MUST LISTEN!

Question remains: what would have happened if this band stuck together in the 90’s?! - Headbanger's Lifestyle

Translated from Greek with Google Translate:

I had never hoped that Last Crack would come back to the record, let alone write about them. And it's really hard to imagine how different, how important, and how enigmatic this band was in 1989's "Sinister Funkhouse # 17" and especially in the triple "Burning Time" of 1991. They were condemned as countless other American bands when grunge took over the reins and all those who were difficult to classify were no longer on the roster of companies.

So they found their tips and courage and returned 28 years later! To be honored? Very doubtful. Probably just to please and prove that they still deserve to have a voice in the modern alternative metal world. Their music mix is ​​virtually indispensable: something between hard rock, alternative and classic heavy metal, with various other elements finding a way to tap into their music in no apparent way, psychedelic elements, sometimes funky but also parts that make them look like with a tough version of U2. The sound, or rather the atmosphere of Last Crack, is raw and raw, with Buddo's vocal dominating the center of everything.

Here's the problem with this return. The harsh sound has changed a lot over the past 30 years, Last Crack no. From the time they were weirded out, some Soundgarden and Alice In Chains came to give birth to a new alternative, nu rock / metal to give a new dimension to the rhythmic track, some Tool and Deftones to refresh the concept of dark modern heavy. The result is that their once pioneering music today looks retro. This reunion really deprives old fans of the fantasy of "What if Last Crack went on?", Giving a cynical answer and eventually shrinking their myth. Last Crack are here and they sound outdated, unfortunately.


But how concerned are these musicological analyzes if the material counts? Reply. Almost none. Most of the songs in "The Up Rising" are extremely well written and have all the elements that make the band stand out. Buddo's "revolutionary" vocals (with many in common with those of John Bush), clever and lively rhythm section, Paul Schluter's awesome guitars, especially straightforward compositions that often seem unexpected under their seemingly simple character. atmospheres and surprises. I would say "Icicle", "Golden Age", "Passenger" and especially "Greta Grinder" in a very balanced but overall album.

I still believe that the overwhelming majority of reunions that have taken place in the metal space have given fans joy but have absolutely nothing to add to the bands' artistry, artistically speaking. Unfortunately, Last Crack is no exception and I would have liked to have kept their glamor untouched. But that doesn't mean that "The Up Rising" is not a very good and honest album that will satisfy the band's friends and the quality of traditional metal. It may also be the impetus for some younger ones to discover another golden underground chapter of our favorite subculture. - Rocking (Greece)

Translated from German with Google Translate:

Exactly thirty years ago, Last Crack released their debut album "Sinister Funkhouse # 17". Two summers later we were served the follow-up output "Burning Time". Both works offered pretty unique, groovy crossover metal that was way ahead of its time. These two records are still deeply revered in insider circles. After that, exceptional singer Buddo left the band, but could never be replaced by the rest of the group on equal terms. Thus, the chapter last crack was finally declared a few years later. Unfortunately, the Americans had only made a small note in the history books of heavy metal. I would hope that this situation will finally change with the brand new hammer mill! In addition to the old colleagues, frontman Buddo is also back on board. How important he is for this combo is demonstrated on "The Up Rising" at every nook and corner.

He ennobles the compositions with extremely refined vocal interludes and really exceptional melody lines. Yes, he really takes the songs! However, this should in no way diminish the imposing musical arts of the rest of the band. We are dealing here simply and simply with exceptionally talented musicians. You still can't put this band in a drawer. Comparisons to other chapels are absolutely misleading. Of course I sometimes hear tiny Led Zeppelin approaches. But there is also enough heavy metal on this release. Psychedelic gadgets and influences from various other genres have also been integrated. Some tracks are slightly progressive, but get stuck in your head after two or three runs at the latest. Conclusion: To write a review in which you can put the music of this band into words is actually simply impossible! Everyone here is obliged to risk ear damage. Last Crack has managed to release an extremely exciting and absolutely incomparable album. Even after weeks of continuous rotation, I still didn't get enough of the third studio album. Definitely a very hot candidate for my album of the year!

Score: 9.5 out of 10 points
Author: Dirk Determann - Crossfire Metal Webzine (Germany)

AN INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST AND PRODUCER PAUL SCHLUTER
BY MIKE HUBERTY
MAY 2019

The band that put Madison on the metal map, LAST CRACK made a big splash worldwide when their album *Sinister Funkhouse #17* was released on Roadrunner Records back in 1989. Following it up with 1991’s *Burning Time*, the group seemed on the same track to larger stardom as other popular alternative-metal acts like Alice in Chains or Soundgarden when they broke up shortly after their sophomore effort. Over the years, they’ve gotten the band back together for multiple reunions and tours and are now about to release a new album, 28 years after their last full-length work. *The Up Rising* will be released on Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson’s EMP record label and they’ll be celebrating the new record on May 31st at the High Noon Saloon in Madison. We talked to Last Crack guitarist Paul Schluter (who engineered and produced the album at his own Megatone Studios in Madison!) about the upcoming album, show, and the future of the band.

MI: After three decades of working together on and off, what made you want to come back to release a new album?
PS: It’s been something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time but it required a solid commitment. We had gotten together many times over the years to rehearse for reunion shows and had always recognized how much we enjoyed playing together. Various things, including other projects we all had going kept us from jumping completely into Last Crack. I personally feel great satisfaction in finally getting the chance to rewrite the ending to our story and release new music to our fans around the world.

MI: How did you guys get signed to Dave Ellefson’s EMP label?
PS: My son Ethan is a big Megadeth fan and one of his favorite bassists is David Ellefson. He told me that David was doing a couple of exclusive Basstory events in Wisconsin. It’s like a bass clinic / storytellers / concert and there was an opportunity to attend a VIP dinner. I bought a copy of our remastered Burning Time CD on eBay to take with and figured I’d get a chance to do some networking and get some stuff signed for my son. I ended up meeting Thom Hazaert at the dinner who is the head of David’s record label EMP and he knew a lot about Last Crack. By the end of that dinner we had already discussed releasing our new album through their label and had a deal in the works.

MI: What’s the song people should listen to first in order to “get” you guys?
PS: I think it would take a few listens of a few songs to get an understanding of us. I’ve always looked at Last Crack as an acquired taste, not something that you can instantly lock on to. There’s depth to the music that grabs you more with each listen. It ends up being music that stays with you versus music that you can easily digest and quickly tire of. Our newest single “Golden Age” would give you a good taste of us since it takes you on a bit of a journey through a few sides of our sound. We’ve always played whatever we want to play and never pigeonholed ourselves to one style or sound. It allows us to have complete freedom in what we write because we’ve covered so many styles from funk, blues, pop, metal and straight up rock in past songs we’ve written.

MI: What inspired that song and why do you think it’s perfect for people to listen to for their first Last Crack experience?
PS: Religion seems to be a subject that comes up a lot in our songs. :Golden Age” has a pretty heavy religious theme and pushes some boundaries. I’m not exactly sure where the inspiration for them came from but I know when I first heard them I was like, “Whoa!”. Buddo wrote most of the lyrics for this album in about two weeks.

MI: You guys have had a chance to not only tour the US, but Europe too, what’s been your favorite show?
PS: There have been so many memorable shows. The first one that comes to mind is playing the Dynamo festival in Eindhoven, Holland in 1994 after the breakup of the original band. We were unsigned, with a new vocalist (Shawn Anthony Brown) and played to the biggest crowd I’ve ever played to in my life. There were 30-40,000 people there during our set and many thousands more later in the day for the headlining acts. I saw people in that huge crowd singing along to our songs. It was surreal. On our Burning Time tour we played other huge festivals in Germany and Holland. An up and coming Nirvana was on the bill with us for one of them. Marilyn Manson opened up for Last Crack at one of our tour stops in Miami. The big shows are always amazing but our crazy early gigs at O’Cayz Corral are also very memorable. No favorites but an incredible amount of memories and great times.

MI: A lot of musicians would have left Madison after getting signed and experiencing the next level, what made you decide to stay?
PS: We did leave Madison for a year and a half after signing our first record deal with Roadrunner. The label suggested that we move to a larger market so we relocated to Minneapolis. I don’t think any of us really loved it. We came back home a lot. The best thing that came of it was recording our first album at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios. I think that our families and friends are why we’ve stayed. We can always venture out into the world when we’re ready to tour.

MI: What can people expect from the release party at the High Noon?
PS: People can expect us to pull out all the stops to bring the very best show that we can play. Buddo is on top of his game vocally and the band is tight. We will be playing every song from the new album as well as old faves. Our shows are like a family reunion of old friends and local musicians. The High Noon Saloon will be alive with vibes!

MI: What are the plans for afterwards, can we expect a lot more Last Crack?
PS: Yes! We are committed to continuing on with the band. We are back to stay and have already been discussing writing for the next album. We’ll be doing some touring for The Up Rising and I’m sure that will include European dates as well.

MI: Any other words for the fans?
PS: I couldn’t be more proud and thankful for the opportunity to get to produce this album with the band at my studio. We’ve kept everything “in-house” with close friends doing our album artwork, mastering, merchandising, web site and even helping with band business. We’re handling a lot of things on our own this time and keeping the control in our own hands. It feels good to be in charge of our own destiny. We are all so proud of this album and feel that it’s our best album yet.

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Last Crack
CD: The Up Rising Record Label: EMP - Maximum Ink Music Magazine

LAST CRACK Premier "Icicle" Music Video
Reformed 90’s Madison, WI-based rockers, Last Crack, have released a video for "Icicle", featured on the band’s long-awaited third full-length LP, The Up Rising, in stores May 31 via EMP Label Group. Pre-order the album here, and find the music video below.

Tracklist:

"Siren Song"
"Golden Age"
"Icicle"
"Passenger"
"Blame"
"Greta Grinder"
"Three Ghosts"
"Sensei"
"Paper Town"
"Discipline"
"Pinned"
"Bullet Train" (CD / Download only)

The Up Rising was recorded from 2017-19 at Megatone Studios in Madison, WI, the release will be the bands first studio release since 1991’s critically-acclaimed Burning Time, the follow up to their breakthrough 1989 Roadrunner debut Sinister Funkhouse #17.

Formed in 1987, Last Crack recorded their first 5-song demo and were quickly brought to the attention of Roadrunner A&R man Monte Conner, who quickly signed the band, and sent them off to Prince’s Paisley Park to begin work on Funkhouse 17.

The album, aptly named after their practice/storage unit they rented outside of their hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Dedicating hours of playing in a hot, sweaty garage with vocalist Buddo scribbling lyrics on the walls, the original lineup of Buddo, Don Bakken and Paul Schluter on guitars, Todd Winger on bass, and Phil Buerstatte on drums, Last Crack was more than ready to unleash their heavy/quirky sound and visions to the world.

With the release of Funkhouse, Last Crack got the attention of the major metal magazines, and quickly developed a loyal fan base.

Their sophomore effort released in 1991, Burning Time, was recorded at Eldorado Studios in Hollywood, with now legendary Dave Jerden, famed for recording legendary records with Jane’s Addiction and Alice In Chains. Burning Time, was met with critical acclaim and the band embarked on a tour of the US and Europe.

Says former Roadrunner A&R Monte Conner, "Last Crack's Burning Time is one of the all-time most underrated albums in the history of Roadrunner Records. It predated the grunge explosion by less than year. Last Crack were not a grunge band, but their sound, their image and the realness of their music would have been way more understood and embraced by that audience and the acceptance that came with that massive climate change."

EMP’s Thom Hazaert adds, “Growing up in Wisconsin, Last Crack coming out of Madison was such a huge deal. I remember Burning Time coming out, and it was like dynamite. They were really doing something that no one else was doing at the time. All the “cool” kids loved them. They were always a band that was so ahead of their time, and it’s a huge honor to release the follow up to Burning Time, all these years later. Hopefully the World finally caught up.”

Fueled by conflicts and industry pressures the band broke up just months after the Burning Time tour had begun, leaving all wondering what happened? Phil Buerstatte would go on to play drums for White Zombie. Buddo, Paul, Don and Todd all continued performing in several popular regional bands in Wisconsin.

In 2002, the band reunited with the original members, except for drummer Phil Buerstatte, who was replaced by Chris Havey. After releasing a live album with songs from both studio albums, Last Crack toured Iceland and the Netherlands, enjoying firsthand that they still had fans around the world. All five original band members were brought back together in November of 2009, for one date in Wisconsin. This would be the last time, as drummer Phil Buerstatte passed away in 2013. - Bravewords.com

Chauncey here back with my top albums of 2019. Here is album #1. Drum roll please..............

15. Battle Beast - No More Hollywood Endings
14. Overkill - The Wings of War
13. L.A. Guns - The Devil You Know
12. Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus
11. Sacred Reich - Awakening
10. Sturgill Simpson - Sound and Fury
09. Tom Keifer - Rise
08. KXM - Circle of Dolls
07.Joy Williams - Front Porch, tied with
John Paul White - The Hurting Kind
06. Death Angel - Humanicide
05.Michael Sweet - Ten
04. Flotsam And Jetsam - The End Of Chaos
03.Rival Sons - Feral Roots
02.Avatarium - The Fire I Long For

01. Last Crack - The Up Rising

Tool took 13 in between albums. That's a pretty long wait. Sacred Reich went 23 years. Man that's a long time. Well Last Crack went 28 YEARS in between 1991's Burning Time and this year's The Up Rising! Now Burning Time is a top 5 "desert island" album for me, so to say that I was anticipating this album would be an understatement. Of course, along with anticipation, I had a certain amount of worry too. I mean, after 28 years, how could this band still have "it". And even if they did still have "it" , how could they possibly live up to their small but rabid fan base's expectations?

Well, Last Crack has done the impossible. They managed to release an album that not only stands up to their high water mark of Burning Time, but they did it without rehashing their past work! They somehow managed to walk that fine line of sounding like themselves and satisfying long-time fans, yet still moving their sound forward. This honestly sounds like the logical follow up to Burning Time and it's an amazing record!

For those of you unfamiliar with the band, their sound is somewhere between alternative rock and alternative metal. Their vocalist name is Buddo and he is a force! He's not what I would describe a "singer's singer". Don't get me wrong, Buddo can carry a tune just fine. What sets him apart is how he just oozes charisma and emotion in his vocal and in his lyrics. Singing every song like it's his last. Thankfully, the guitar team of Don Bakken and Paul Schluter give him great songs to sing over. Don and Paul are the true definition of the term "guitar team" in my opinion. They rarely play the same part at the same time, weaving in and around each other beautifully. Playing leads that fit the song perfectly. Never overplaying, but letting you know that they are very technically proficient.

It's hard to name highlights on this one since every song is top notch. I suppose they should be, they've had enough time to work on them. That being said some of the highlights for me would be the almost rapped verses and angry chorus of Golden Age, the song Icicle with it's almost droning guitar parts and chant-like chorus, and the laid back groove of Discipline. Also the almost dream like atmosphere of Bullet Train makes for a perfect album closer. It's a shame it's only on the CD. I'm going to stop rambling now and close with a prayer. "Please God, don't let Last Crack go another 28 years before they follow up The Up Rising",

The End,
Chauncey

https://www.facebook.com/FourNorthMenOfTheRockpocalypse - Four North Men of the Rockpocalypse - Music Blogger

Translated from German with Google Translate:

LAST CRACK are cult. They were one of those special formations from the early Nineties . It's not just her second record, Burning Time, that is legend. LAST CRACK captured the underground across genres. They were progressive, but only because they broke new ground. Nobody could really grasp them, abstract and groundbreaking at the same time. It was metal, it was rock and alternative, it was funk and psychedelic. LAST CRACK were alternative rock of the best kind. And they had a more than exceptional singer, where genius and madness went hand in hand. Rock hippies in the grunge age. LAST CRACK.

Time leap into the year 2019. Old and young hippies dare to step over the threshold of the heaven gate again. Even LAST CRACK walk into the studio in their original line-up and then present their comeback album 'The Up Rising'. A daring undertaking that is rarely crowned with success. So ask your reviewer again in ten years how this work can be classified in the discography of LAST CRACK.

Unfortunately, we can't wait that long, because the sirens of the nineties have been whining for a long time: The opener ´Siren Song´ lets the sixties psychedelic rock and nineties sleaze metal pass by the mind's eye before a groove and a heaviness move in that even SOUNDGARDEN likes would. We rock'n'roll and groove back in immediately. Brilliant dark rock, on the other hand, is emerging in ´Pinned´ and for permanent rotation on all ether waves the heavenly refrain of ´Paper Town´ would offer itself immediately. Buddo's outbursts of anger could be a lot more eccentric, but ´Golden Age´ could have jumped through the room just as well in 1992. A guitar solo that could put a smile on Zack de la Rocha's face is delightful and from the background it can be heard that we would already hear the angels singing.

Songs apparently from the nineties or highly topical, because such songs were and are downright timeless. Numerous songs from these years can still stand the test of time - and LAST CRACK create more for an apparently infinite age. ´Three Ghosts´ howls through the decades of the past, ´Sensei´ is a grumbler who whines for punishment. ´Icicle´ shimmers through the universe until nobody can hold on, ´Passenger´ just pushes us out of it and we also shout that we should just be pushed, yes, pushed further. The booming atmosphere of the slightly violent ´blame´ unfolds right at the right time. Hallucinogenic guitar swaths from the hands of Paul Schluter and Don Bakken increase ´Discipline´ and leave us in the frenzy of the final ´Bullet Train´.

Anyone who has not heard a sound from LAST CRACK so far, can still imagine an hour of music that has a wicked swamp of delight and passion somewhere on the side streets between LED ZEPPELIN and SOUNDGARDEN has to get in.

(8.5 points)

https://www.facebook.com/lastcrack - Streetclip.de (Germany)

#7 - Last Crack - The Up Rising

Last Crack are an eclectic Progressive Metal band from Wisconsin and yet another band who have almost 30 years between album releases. Their last, Burning Time, came out back in 1991 when I was 16/17, it's challenging, varied songs and Buddo's fantastic voice had a massive impact on me and it sounds almost as fresh today as it did then. It's still one of my very favourite albums.
The Up Rising is a more streamlined album and more Alternate Rock than Progressive Metal but Buddo's voice and lyrics are as top notch as ever and the musicianship excellent. I was squealy excited about the prospect of this album and it didn't disappoint. It might not be at the same level as Burning Time but it hasn't had 28 years of emotional attachment either. - Sapphire Bullets

Ray Dorsey
July 4, 2019
LAST CRACK - “The Up Rising” - (EMP, ‘19, Madison, WI) - It’s funny how things happen, but this band and album, in microcosm, represent a lot of things about how my interest in music & the underground have been over the years.
Back in 1987, my small music magazine (at that time called ENLIGHTENED CHAOS) was going great guns. Ok...maybe it was going small pistols, but it was going. I loved (as always) to champion not only the underground, but to run counter-current to even the more prevalent underground trends. Everyone was listening to thrash or death metal? Sure, I was too, but I’d also be listening to SORTILEGE - “Heroes Tears” & waving the damn flag for a bunch of French guys with poofy hairdos, playing post-NWOBHM.

So when Roadrunner Records sent me the debut LAST CRACK album, “Sinister Funkhouse #17,” I was all about that shit. They sounded like what would happen if an early alternative band had also listened to a bit more Crack The Sky than Black Flag and had Bitches Sin’s Toomey Bros on dual guitars. Plus they had a poet with a voice & a half. Suffice it to say, they were ahead of their time so I flew to them like a moth to a flame. Their next effort ‘91’s “Burning Time” was even wilder. Here were guys laying down some
rock business that was sharper, harder & more melodic than anything Jane’s Addiction or Alice In Chains would ever do. And they were also early at the party. I interviewed the band, gave them a review & feature like they were Led Zeppelin & nobody gave a shit. Brilliant tunes like “Mack Bolasses” went way over the laymen’s heads. I saw them play at The Bayou in DC. Practically no one was there. I saw them open for an admittedly great ARMORED SAINT at Hammer’s in Baltimore and the people there were in the house mostly for John Bush & Co. Here was a band just cooking, a singer who stood toe to toe with Ian Astbury or Chris Cornell and 2 guitarists who interwove leads out of another galaxy and it was “yeah, ok.”

Well, time went on, the Lollapalooza generation came into play, the big boys of alternative rock took over in the ‘90’s and I managed my way through that (at best) iffy decade on a diet of Paul Chain, Al Atkins, Kingston Wall & old stuff. In 1994, the year my son Paul was born, LAST CRACK issued a good demo compilation CD “Runheadstartscreaming” with a different lead singer (in the stead of the dynamic Buddo) and then they seemed to be a piece of history that could’ve been. I knew that members of the band had been involved in other good projects like Magic 7 and White Fear Chain &
I continued to spin those LAST CRACK discs. Still, as a going concern, the band filtered out of my scope until earlier this year when a FB post by a friend indicated that the classic lineup of the band was working on new material. With a lot of personal things going on this spring, I didn’t investigate anymore and once again, the band was at the very periphery of my consciousness...until a couple Saturdays ago at The Sound Garden in Fells Point MD.

I hadn’t been down to the old SG in awhile and with a few hours to kill, I rolled down there. It was a nice day on the Baltimore waterfront and I got there a little early, happening to meet old buddy Jim Powell waiting outside the front door. We chewed the fat for a few then ambled in. I scanned the metal section, not finding much. CD’s (my current poison due to space & equipment issues) are taking more & more of a back seat to vinyl at the Garden but they still have quite a few. I remember thinking “Even if I don’t get anything today, I’m just grateful this place still exists” as I began making my way through the “Various A, B, etc.” sections.

It’s a feeling I’m sure every serious music addict has had, and one that I sadly guess will be receding into memory more & more as online shopping continues to grow but I got a full dose of it as I scanned through the “Various L’s.” I flipped the previous disc forward and there it was. At first, the letters on the cover didn’t make any sense. They floated, swam, seemed to move in & out of order and at first my vision clouded over, begging them not to gel into something other than what I thought they said. And then they resolved themselves: LAST CRACK - “The Up Rising.” Nobody into music full-ass-on can tell me they’ve never felt this. An almost fainting wave of discovery, revelation and “Fuck yeah! I got it!” Suddenly an already good day had become a whole lot better. I felt kinda bad showing the CD to my friend Jim because I knew they probably didn’t have another copy but I saying I was giddy with my find was the understatement of the year. After a few minutes of goofy mindless CD flipping, I went to the counter, handed them my $13.77 and hastened to my car to slip in the disc.

I sat back for a few minutes in the parking lot, rolled the windows down, tried not to look too much like some demented stalker & let the Rush-like strains of “Siren Song” wash over me. By the time “Golden Age” was cranking it’s insistent urban/metal throb at full volume, I was tooling up Ann Street out of the ‘Point.
The warm breeze was blowing in the windows, tossing around my later-life crisis hair growth as Paul & Don’s wrenching, gnarling guitars snarled the funk-laden hard rock riffs of “Passenger.” They were welded into my brain, coupled with cranium peeling leads that sounded like the true evolution from “Burning Time.” I pushed my foot down on the gas. Passenger? Hell no. I was the fucking driver and my fuel was being sent straight down a pipeline from Madison, Wisconsin. On and on it continued. “Blame,” where frontman supreme Buddo puts on a world-class vocal performance, spiraling upward from the pensive opening to a soaring crescendo then a thoughtful denouement. His expression is suspended on guitars that are at first gossamer then chromium steel then like butterflies again. Every track is a study in metallic rock that is at once exploratory, reaching for new light & shade while being as focused as an electron microscope & taut as a piano wire. The tribal rhythmic of “Greta Grinder,” the yearning stretch of “Discipline,” all the way through “Bullet Train”’s lengthy ethereal pull into the last station, the album sizzles & cracks (!!) with electricity. This is the sound of a band not only back to take care of unfinished business but to bring up plenty of new issues to the damn committee.

It would be wrong to not acknowledge the particular players in the case of an album like “The Up Rising.” Todd Winger (Bass) & Chris Havey (drums) plant rhythms that are anything but simply backbeats. They open up fields of tempos, fertilizing the musical soil for the metallic plowshare that’s running down them. That tillage is then supplied by the lethal axes of Paul Schluter & Don Bakken. Unlike a lot of the lead guitar tandems who trot the boards these days, Don & Pablo eschew the Lizzy-like harmony lead vibe. Instead they wrap intense chordal structures around each other and build flowing spirals of lead runs in tapestries that while undoubtedly heavy & cutting, also remind me of a heavy metal version of The Church’s Peter Koppes & Ian Haug. Atop it all is the vocal mastery of one Buddo, a guy who not only has a voice and 2/3 but a dynamic personality infusing it as well as lyrics that are as thought-provoking as they are intelligent.

Here’s the deal folks. A lot of people missed the greatness of LAST CRACK during 1987-1991 when they issued their first 2 killer albums. If you were one of them, don’t let that happen in 2019 with album #3. And, if you were aboard back then, get your ticket punched now because the “Bullet Train” is back on the rails. And it’s rolling. Hard.

LAST CRACK:

Buddo Xavier Rank - vocals
Paul Schluter - guitar
Don Bakken - guitar
Todd Winger - bass
Chris Havey - drums. - Ray's Realm (Music Blogger)

Translated from Italian with Google Translate:

03/09/2019
Back to 1991 for our #occhioalmetallo column and our oiled presents us burning time of Last Crack, an album maybe passed very unnoticed, but definitely didn't miss everyone.

In the "Sinister Funkhouse # 17" depot, each rehearsal session is an event, a flash concert which fans and curious onlookers rush to from every area of ​​Madison. It is a gloomy building in which new techniques of metallurgical art are secretly refined. On the walls, drawn with blood-red lines during moments of feverish creativity, verses and excerpts of urban poetry destined to accompany the precious artifacts just forged. The alien beauty of the work of the five Wisconsin artisans, so dissimilar from the monstrous features of the nascent death and thrash metal entities that populate the Roadracer catalog at the time, does not escape the attentive ear of Monte Conner, A&R of the Dutch label since 1987 The contract with the future record giant is honored with an album that pays homage to the peculiar rehearsal room and reveals to the rest of the world the extravagant idiom of Buddo, Pablo, Don, Tod and Philo. An oblique and original style devoid of concrete references, a corrosive amalgamation of heavy goggles, progressive, funk and blues in which spill the raving lyrics of "Buddo" Xavier Rank, simply the most expressive punk singer in the world. His full nude on the eccentric cover of the disc is an explanatory manifesto of the contents: unpredictable rhythms, solo assaults, flammable atmospheres and singing anarchy, nothing comparable around in 1989, when the ensemble in the ritual interviews mentions among its influences seemingly irreconcilable artists like Fear and Rush! The Opus Magnum is around the corner ... "Burning Time" is unparalleled inspiration. File the metallic roughness of early career and do justice to the multifaceted and immature sound of the debut with the help of Mr. Dave Jerden (Jane's Addiction, Alice In Chains, Armored Saint) the bad boys of Madison seem ready for the big jump. The tours in the company of King's X and Wrathchild America (outside with the monstrous 3D the same year) and a shamanic video in heavy rotation in the macro-container of Headbangers Ball do not however serve to overturn the sentence already issued by Fate. The brilliant, fluid and elusive writing of the quintet is perhaps too daring in the year of the "Black Album" and "Nevermind", black holes capable of swallowing up and retroactively absorbing an entire musical universe. Why then get swept away by the hard waterfalls of the deviated "Wicked Sandbox", play the timpani in the melodic explosions of "Energy Mind" or get lost in the maze without light of "Precious Human Stress"? There is no time to indulge in the groove-metal-prog orgasm of "Kiss A The Cold", let alone the psychofunk tribalisms of "Down Beat Dirty Messiah" ... and the other seven pearls? To those pigs as well. Several attempts to resurface with new features on a market immune to genius, White Fear Chain (with three former Realms) and Magic 7 have crossed the metal galaxy as fragments of cosmic dust. Until today ... Yes, June 7, 2019, the EMP of Dave Ellefson published in the plenary indifference "The Up Rising". Absent only the poor Phil, who died at the age of 46 in 2013 ... Who knows that this time the Last Cracks are not able to originate the decisive crack, the last crack able to shatter the most cohesive matter and to break everything as they deserve, celebrating the own name. The answer is sadly not clear ... But I already bought my copy.

03/09/2019 di Oiled in Categorie Occhio Al Metallo
https://www.heavymetalwebzine.it/2019/09/03/last-crack-burning-time-1991/ - Heavy Metal Webzine (Italy)

Saturday, January 21, 2012
Interview Last Crack
There are bands who suddenly seem to disappear completely off the radar. They release an album that you cherish, you share it with your friends, you feel part of something special and then..total silence. Last Crack was one of those bands. After seeing the cover of their Burning Time I just knew that their music had to be something different. Their music was intense, spiritual, the guitar playing was incredibly unique and on top of that was their singer Buddo, who sang like a kind of alternative Bono, very passionate and with a sincere concern for mother earth and love. And I can honestly say that even today there isn´t a band who sound anything like them.

Last Crack was part of a very healthy alternative scene in the early 90´s. A period which seems a little bit forgotten in history, but which created a lot of unique bands. There were no boundaries and a lot of different genres were mixed. Their debut album was Sinister Funkhouse #17 (1989) and it was immediately evident that something was going on here. The album created some buzz, Aardschok magazine loved it, and in 1991 Last Crack released their magnum opus: Burning Time.

Burning Time gathered positive reviews from all over the world and seemed to mark the big breakthrough. But..nothing happened. Their was a long silence and then suddenly in 2002 there was a one off reunion show. In 2004 Last Crack was flown in to do a show in Amstelveen. A second life was in sight and new, very promising demos appeared on the internet. Awesome new tracks like Greta Grinder and Siren Song raised high expectations for a new album. But again, nothing happened. In 2009 I tried to get in touch with Last Crack´s very charismatic singer, Buddo. After some searching I found him and was delighted I found him and very happy to give me an interview.

Buddo,what are your memories looking back at the early 90's? In my opinion it was a very healthy period music wise. There were no boundaries and everything seemed possible with bands like Jane's Addiction, Mind Over Four, Rapscallion en King's X.

I just came out of my alternative punk phase. I listened to bands like Fear, Desecendents etc. When I auditioned for Last Crack I had this idea of mixing alternative rock with metal. I didn't like typical 80's metal like Poison or Warrant. I just moved to Austin when I auditioned and Austin had a very healthy underground scene with bands like Glass Eye or Zeitgeist.I wanted to use the intimacy and roots of those bands and combine it with the power of punk and metal. I loved Jane's Addiction from the first second I heard them and really thought they re-invented hardrock. Soundgarden was important and so was Mother Love Bone. When Last Crack first started touring the focus really was on the music. You didn't had internet like nowadays and I was still listening to tapes on my Sony walkman. It was really a healthy time where risks were taken. Most important for me though was the end of hairrock domination hahaha!

Did you guys realise at the time you were doing something unique?

Funny that you ask me this. Don Bakken (guitarist) used to say at the time that our music was unique. I didn't believe him at the time. I just thought we were a metal band because my perspective on the whole scene was different because of my hardcore/punk background. The other guys loved bands like Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. Paul Schluter (guitarist) was heavily into metal and always brought in the hardest music possible. I think what eventually came out of this formed Last Crack. Not until years later, and the band didn't exist anymore, I realised how special we were.


Don't you think that many people have forgotten how much beautiful music was being made in the early 90's and that this period got stuck between the hardrock from the 80's and the current musical era?

Yes..I do. The 80's was a time of excess, stadiumrock. After that, rap took over. And somewhere in between the alternative scene came up..but that was short lived. We have to give credits to bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam and Chris Cornell for not giving up between al those fake popmusic.

When I listen to Last Crack I hear a lot of love, spirituality and a deep concern for this planet coming out of your songs. Agree?

As far as my lyrics go; i always try to express my personal and private emotions. I always compare myself to a coal miner who digs deep to get the precious diamonds to the surface. A lot of my lyrics came out of meditation. I always saw the stage as an altar, a holy place.

Do you feel Last Crack got enough recognition over the years?

I think we would've gained a lot more if we stayed together. It's simply our own fault for not being able to keep this band together. But everyday I'm blown out of my chair from the messages I get from fans all over the world. We are very grateful that there are many people today who are listening to our music and remember us.

* I recently talked to guitarist Paul Schluter. Almost a whole new album was recorded in 2005 but is still in the vault. I was fortunate to hear 5 complete songs and I can already tell you that it would be a pity if they never see the light of day! I hope to publish a follow up interview with Paul here on Needle Dose as soon as possible* - Needle Dose

Last Crack – The Up Rising

Here’s an album I’ve been waiting for, for a long time, three decades to be exact! Last Crack was a band I came across in the early 90s while working in collage radio. If you recall, former Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison put together a list of the best albums to ever be released on Roadrunner Records, he listed the band’s second album Burning Time on that list. The band is that good, I’ve had people goof on the name, until they hear the music, and 9 times out of 10 are instantly hooked. - Mark Strigl's Talking Rock

“Icicle” is Last Crack’s first new release in 25 years.

Last Crack is an unusual, almost schizophrenic band formed in 1987 in Madison, Wisconsin. Featuring a unique, highly emotional and charismatic vocalist as well as superb musicianship, they were signed to Roadrunner Records and released two full length albums: 'Sinister Funkhouse #17' and 'Burning Time in the early nineties. The music merged accessible forms of metal with numerous other influences ranging from psychedelia, funk, punk, blues and progressive rock. A difficult band to pigeonhole characteristically, they emerged at an interesting juncture in music when punk, thrash, and hair bands were all in the mix.

Close reference points may be bands such as Faith No More, King's X and Jane's Addiction; although Last Crack possessed a heavier approach and were more metallic in the rhythm department even while simultaneously being more experimental. The band themselves cite acts ranging from Rush to Fear as influences on their sound.



In the midst of the cultural chaos, the band was emerging as a critically acclaimed act with the potential to become commercially successful. The combination of a music label that did not quite know how to manage such an act, and growing tensions between the singer, musicians, and management caused the group to break up only a few months after their highly praised ''Burning Time'' album was released.

Since then they have reunited for landmark shows including a short tour to Iceland and the Netherlands. The band has been focused the past year with selective shows and writing. Now they are currently working to complete their long-awaited third full album at Megatone Studio in Madison where Last Crack Guitarist & Producer Paul Schluter has established himself for over a decade.

Last Crack is defined as Buddo on vocals, Paul Schluter and Don Bakken on guitars, Todd Winger on bass and Chris Havey on drums, who worked with the guitarists during their early pre-signed years. Phil Buerstatte, who played drums during the band’s signed years, passed away in 2013.
Three decades on, Last Crack has never been more focused, energized and committed to releasing new music to the world. Their new single plus a video for their song "Icicle" is available below. - Bravewords.com

Last Crack release ‘Icicle’, their first new music in 25 years

20/10/2017 News 142
‘Icicle’ the awesome new single from Last Crack.
Adventurous Rock. Hard and Groovy, Dangerous, Beautiful, Powerful, Soulful, Moody & Mysterious, Dark & Light.
‘Icicle’ is Last Crack’s first new release in 25 years!

Last Crack is an unusual, almost schizophrenic band formed in 1987 in Madison, Wisconsin. Featuring a unique, highly emotional and charismatic vocalist as well as superb musicianship, they were signed to Roadrunner Records and released two full length albums: ”Sinister Funkhouse #17” and ”Burning Time” in the early nineties. The music merged accessible forms of metal with numerous other influences ranging from psychedelia, funk, punk, blues and progressive rock. A difficult band to pigeonhole characteristically, they emerged at an interesting juncture in music when punk, thrash, and hair bands were all in the mix.

Close reference points may be bands such as Faith No More, King’s X and Jane’s Addiction; although Last Crack possessed a heavier approach and were more metallic in the rhythm department even while simultaneously being more experimental. The band themselves cite acts ranging from Rush to Fear as influences on their sound.

In the midst of the cultural chaos, the band was emerging as a critically acclaimed act with the potential to become commercially successful. The combination of a music label that did not quite know how to manage such an act, and growing tensions between the singer, musicians, and management caused the group to break up only a few months after their highly praised ”Burning Time” album was released.
Since then they have reunited for landmark shows including a short tour to Iceland and the Netherlands. The band has been focused the past year with selective shows and writing. Now they are currently working to complete their long-awaited third full album at Megatone Studio in Madison where Last Crack Guitarist & Producer Paul Schluter has established himself for over a decade.
Last Crack is defined as Buddo on vocals, Paul Schluter and Don Bakken on guitars, Todd Winger on bass and Chris Havey on drums, who worked with the guitarists during their early pre-signed years. Phil Buerstatte, who played drums during the band’s signed years, passed away in 2013.

Three decades on, Last Crack has never been more focused, energized and committed to releasing new music to the world. Their new single plus a video for their song “Icicle” was released to the world on October 11th, 2017.
This is Last Crack.

Last Crack

Last Crack is:
Buddo (vocals)
Paul Schluter (guitars)
Don Bakken (guitars)
Todd Winger (bass)
Chris Havey (drums) - Rock N' Load Magazine

Last Crack waited a long time to come back and light the world on fire again but with their new realease “The Uprising” that’s exactly what they aim to do. Listen in as Ozz chats with Paul Schluter about the past, present and future of Last Crack. Click that tiny little play button now!

(Audio interview with guitarist Paul Schluter) - WJJO.com

"Reformed '90s Madison, Wisconsin alternative hard rockers LAST CRACK have signed to EMP Label Group, the U.S.-based label of MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. The band's long-awaited third full-length album, "The Up Rising", will be released on May 31. Recorded during 2017-2019 at Megatone Studios in Madison, the LP will be the band's first studio release since 1991's critically acclaimed "Burning Time".

Formed in 1987, LAST CRACK recorded its first five-song demo and was brought to the attention of legendary Roadrunner A&R man Monte Conner, who signed the band and sent them off to Prince's Paisley Park to begin work on their 1989 Roadrunner debut, "Sinister Funkhouse #17".

The album, aptly named after their practice/storage unit they rented outside of Madison. Dedicating hours of playing in a hot, sweaty garage with vocalist Buddo scribbling lyrics on the walls, the original lineup of Buddo, Don Bakken and Paul Schluter on guitars, Todd Winger on bass, and Phil Buerstatte on drums, LAST CRACK was more than ready to unleash its heavy/quirky sound and visions to the world

With the release of "Funkhouse", LAST CRACK got the attention of the major metal magazines, and quickly developed a loyal fan base.

Their sophomore effort, "Burning Time", was recorded at Eldorado Studios in Hollywood with Dave Jerden, famed for recording iconic albums with JANE'S ADDICTION and ALICE IN CHAINS. The LP was met with critical acclaim and the band embarked on a tour of the U.S. and Europe.

EMP's Thom Hazaert commented: "Growing up in Wisconsin, LAST CRACK coming out of Madison was such a huge deal. I remember 'Burning Time' coming out, and it was like dynamite. They were really doing something that no one else was doing at the time. All the 'cool' kids loved them. They were always a band that was so ahead of their time, and it's a huge honor to release the follow-up to 'Burning Time', all these years later. Hopefully the world finally caught up."

Fueled by conflicts and industry pressures the band broke up just months after the "Burning Time" tour had begun, leaving all wondering what happened. Buerstatte would go on to play drums for WHITE ZOMBIE, while Buddo, Paul, Don and Todd all continued performing in several popular regional bands in Wisconsin.

In 2002, the band reunited with the original members, except for Buerstatte, who was replaced by Chris Havey. After releasing a live album with songs from both studio albums, LAST CRACK toured Iceland and the Netherlands, enjoying firsthand that they still had fans around the world. All five original band members were brought back together in November of 2009 for one date in Wisconsin. This would be the last time, as Buerstatte passed away in 2013." - LaserCD.com

Translated from German with Google Translate:

Unusual bands require such measures, apparently also in the promotion area. At least that is what Roadrunner seems to have thought when they sent an introduction video (great idea!) By LAST CRACK about a month ago, on which vocalist and mastermind Buddo was given the opportunity to visualize themselves and the concept of the new album accordingly coherently accompanied - to be presented. In this form, I think, an extremely successful and effective appetizer for "Burning Time". So then the title of this masterpiece, which is now finally available as a silver record and has been blocking my CD player for days. Why? Well, even if the debut was anything but conventional and easily digestible, Buddo and his men are finally setting new standards with 'Burning Time'. Audibly improved and more sophisticated arrangements confirm the assumption that there is much more in this band than what was presented to the public just under two years ago under the title "Sinister Funkhouse # 17". The 13 pieces contained here - all of them packed by producer Dave Jerden (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction) in a clear, transparent sound garment - simply blow up (almost) everything that has previously existed in this field. Led Zeppelin on LSD meets Jane's Addiction! This approximate description of the style of music is not so far-fetched, although it is anything but fair. You see, nothing helps. You have to listen to songs like 'Mini Toboggan', 'Energy Mind', 'My Burning Time', 'Mack Bolasses', 'Love, Craig' or 'Kiss A Cold'. However, caution is advisable: LAST CRACK are addictive, inevitable! 9.5 points for one of the best roadrunner releases and the most innovative and interesting album of the year so far with Psychotic Waltz! - Rock Hard Magazine (Germany)

Translated from Russian with Google Translate:

The dilemma for the Wisconsin townsfolk from Last Crack, led by outrageous vocalist Baddo, who had already undressed on his debut debut, was simple. Either "Burning Time" or its "Wasting". But, releasing the under-produced "Sinister Funkhouse No. 17" two years ago, the natives of Madison went in search of a navigator and found him. Dave Jerden gained authority by crafting other alternatives as follows - Alice In Chains and Jane's Addiction. It was this helmsman who helped novice groove metallers to become part of an emerging US alternative scene. From a gray and unappetizing mass with a blurry face, they quite confidently became a number of worthy ones, although there were not enough stars from the sky. Gerden was able not only to work out the sound of high quality, but also almost for nothing to present Last Crack his own sound. Far from unique, but at least not stamped and cliched one or two. Instead of a straightforward rural thrash (not in the sense of style, but in the more casual meaning of this multi-faceted word), a variety of rather delicate material appeared on the stage as part of the future nu-stage, which was given the first kicks in the ass.

The mix of Alice In Chains with King's X (you won’t kill the producer’s hand) has gained sharp features - some progressiveness (in terms of melodies and parts of structures) and, rightly, solid work with each instrumentalist. It can be seen that the chief editor of the record did not breathe evenly to the details and fatherly loved his wards. The record has a mood, a variety that the first-born is not rich in, and a plan. The riffs and humor finally turned from an end in itself to a support group. Of course, there is no talk of any masterpiece, but the commercial success was moaning for these guys who signed up with big Milwaukee. Moaned, but never came. Most of the memories of "Burning Time" in the foreign press comes down to crying over the underestimated and unwittingly forgotten classics of alternative rock. Probably, in these verbal exercises there is a considerable share of homespun truth. - Metal Library (Russia)

“…I thought I heard a million scream up and over the big machine…”

Sinister Funkhouse #17. Sinister FUNKhouse #17. My very first thoughts were this was gonna suck. Got about halfway through lead off “Gush Volcano Crush” (intro “Good Mourning from the Funkhouse” is almost half a minute’s worth of an agonized moan over unimportant effects) and thought maybe this was gonna be pretty good. Halfway through “Blood Brother of the Big Black Bear” and I was back at suck again, however it seemed at least more interesting than yer average suck. More importantly, the funk nightmare I was dreading seemed almost totally muted. In any case, funk or suck, the PR person over at Roadracer was expecting to read about what I’d heard in the months to come. Y’see, the worst thing about receiving promos is you have to (or really should) review them, suck or not. Best part is they’re free, suck or not. And back then they were conveniently delivered to your doorstep. I’m pretty sure our mailwoman thought I sucked after ten years in the fanzine world.

So, dare we be blessed by Sinister Funkhouse #17 and its screwy song titles? Looks like a real winner. We've got some naked guy called Buddo prancing angrily across the front cover. Yep, just what I wanna see. Looked to me like a male version of Ally Sheedy in the back photo. Where’s she when ya need her? As well, the back cover delivers a message apparently crafted by this Buddo character, a strange invitation written in inflated nether-wisdom asking ‘The Mighty in Spirit!’ to view the world through their eyes, more or less, and actually blossoms a mid-sized hope for some better-than-suck lyrics. Then before I even realized the "BBo/tBBB" song was over and images of Sheedy in her b-day suit were flung from my head, suck had run like a scolded puppy hit across the nose with the rolled-up Sears catalog, a catalog that is “Concrete Slaughterdogs”, an ornery tune with ornery lyrics graced with a name that’d be friggin’ glorious for any band, song, album, pub, pet, street, ballet, comet, fantasy baseball team, or children’s amusement park. It hasn’t left my side since.

Until then I wasn’t sure if these dudes could do heavy or catchy. Here both are done well. Buddo, as much as I wanted to pass him and his archer pose off as an eccentric product of who cares?, wouldn’t be ignored without a fight. One I easily lost. Like the title’s hardened canine, his bark is confrontational bordering on fearless and his lyrical commands spit a fire that’s diluted by little finesse in style or training…

“Get out of my way, I’m busting up, I want it all!
Don’t give a shit who’s in my way
I’ll kill for blood to win this game
Get out, get out of my way”

Around him, explosive(ly-played) rhythms growl, aggressively baring teeth that’re unexpectedly unclean and smelly, only to burst, showering surrounding tracks with the foamy red juice of Buerstatte (R.I.P. - drums, also of White Zombie), Bakken (guitar), Schluter (guitar), and Winger (bass – not Kip), a rhythm section that almost effortlessly pries a knack for abnormal structuring and lotsa tight, chunky chops outta this thing’s walls and drops them from a balcony of pretty surprising virtuosity that, despite being trapped inside the lp’s unkempt moat which secures it at underground level, still rises to the surface of the production’s brackish water.

Here’s where I figure, should the rest of the lp possess half the authority that just careened off my frontal lobe, I’ll have to send them a thank you rose or something. My answer is “Slicing Steel”, which hauls its slow-burn intensity and brooding disposition like a drag anchor across several dingy environments, a strategy that offsets the previous songs’ rapid bombardment. “Saraboyscage” rips a page from “Slicing Steel” and with it builds something structured with clandestine, blues-esque anciness.

While the tune closest to masterpiece level is “Concrete Slaughterdogs”, practically every song owns one, sometimes two specific agendas to snag attention, whether it be a main riff, bevy of tennis match solos, or an eruption of heaviness that wakes a subtle village of musicality slumbering at its base (hear: the end of “Thee Abyss”, the album’s elongatedly-epic finale and divorce court for cheerless light vs. dark matrimony). For instance, the foundation rhythm interspersed throughout “Terse” continually lures you back with its menacingly half-steppin’, yet quick gait. Even “Blood Brothers of the Big Black Bear”, an autobiographical account of times at The Black Bear, a basement bar hangout of the Madison, WI metal scene during the late ‘80s & early ‘90s, ironically the song I like least, roils with inspired solo work.

Funny enough, what I assumed was gonna be ten windbags trying to sell the world third rate Zappa insight while funking things up on the dance floor turned out to be a strapping heavy bag full of bleakly colorful and poetically logical, um…I dunno, not really philosophy…more like observations seen through low-dose acid goggles or something, which is the opposite of their author’s vocal vision of unapologetic angst and an authoritarian aptitude for disparity, a non-style where every heated word seems to hiss with honesty and can’t reside anywhere except in yer grill.

Alas, Last Crack fail(ed) to fill the void of any metal style, probably ‘cos they don’t (i.e. can’t) technically claim citizenship in any, yet it’s too heavy for hard rock, fence-sits on prog’s property line, and I won’t bring myself to curse it alterna-grunge just ‘cos it doesn’t seem to fit anywhere else. Hell, I can’t even locate the funk monogram in their album title (and for that I rejoice). But is this really failure, this lack of classification? Not a chance.

Thought these guys were destined for bigger things, like a pair of socks and a space heater for Buddo, yet nothing even remotely cult status about ‘em has ever rung my ears.

Fun fact 89dl”: Apparently, the Sinister Funkhouse was a storage unit used for practice sessions, bin #17, and Buddo would scrawl proposed lyrics all over the walls with markers. Betcha the owner of that place loved him.

“…I’ve had it up to here with the sick and meek, I can’t stay so simple and weak, we will be – powerful – no pity…” - Metal Archives