Last Tourist - Last Tourist Album Review

By Jon Milton.

Last Tourist’s debut album is an absolute smorgasbord of wonderful musical influences.

Imagine if you combined all the best bits of shoegaze. A touch of Ride here, a bit of Slowdive there and of course a hint of My Bloody Valentine throughout. Then add some of the bands that immediately influenced Shoegaze, namely Spacemen 3 and Jesus and Mary Chain. And finally add in some of the bands that influenced them, such as Suicide and The Velvet Underground and you should start to get the picture.

Last Tourist channels that ethereal mix of obscured vocals, distortion and echo beautifully. The vocals draw comparison with JAMC throughout, and across a number of tracks there are subtle elements of both Psychocandy and Darklands. Tracks like Riding Seas and Public Service have elements of Nowhere era Ride. The Slowdive influence comes through on Lemon Twist and Lust, and Cave in the Hills blends JAMC with Suicide. Interlude and Spiritual Cove blend Spacemen 3 and MBV.     

The band clearly wear their influences with pride, with Last Tourist more celebration than pastiche. And those were golden eras of music in many ways, so why shouldn’t they be celebrated?  This is an album to escape to and is all the better for that.