THE LAST CONSPIRATORS
”If you want to know where the real songwriters in punk are this day and age,
look no further" - Big Takeover Magazine
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“... I had to play the first track, “Luther Hamilton Blues,” about ten times in a row. Yeah,
it’s that good. A psychedelic tribal vamp evolves into a chanting punk verse before finally blossoming into a glorious pop chorus... Tim Livingston excels at writing
hook-laden, politically charged paeans to pop culture, and his commando team play it
rough and crunchy on the band’s powerhouse sophomore disc. Other standouts include
the Clash-like “Who Wants a Revolution Anyway?” and the ferocious, go-for-the-throat, garage-rock rumble of “History,” but there’s not a clunker in the bunch. “Long Live TV”
evokes the ghost of Robert Hazard, while “It’s Late” is a tender and delicate ballad that
stacks up the requisite dramatic refrains... this 5-song EP... gets pretty close to capturing
the energy of their live shows, and if the New York Dolls played sixties psychedelic pop,
this is what it would all sound like. Potent stuff.” - NIPPERTOWN
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METROLAND MAGAZINE BEST LOCAL RECORDINGS 2010
“Tim Livingston’s quartet have pulled off a rare balancing act. The sociopolitical character
of his songs are given such confidently forceful flight by the taut guitar-bass-drums that
the music is not a backing track to broadsides, but its beating heart equal. It’s also a well-known fact that if you don’t have a good drummer you might as well stay home, and in
Al Kash, the Last Conspirators have a great one.” - Metroland Magazine
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“Tim Livingston gets political in a punk rock way... Tracks like "Luther Hamilton Blues" and "Who Wants a Revolution Anyway" sizzle with old school rock 'n' roll rage,... With its surf-inflected guitar breaks and pointed lyrical lampooning, "Long Live TV,"... conjures a melodic, mellower Dead Kennedys. Best is "It's Late," a ballad about the fears and joys in a long-term relationship...." - The Times Union
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“...The Last Conspirators, a quartet that brings a welcome, Information Age crunch to
the tough, melodic sounds of late ’70s/early ’80s Brit-punk; think The Clash, The Jam,
maybe The Ruts or the UK Subs, but with slightly glossier production values and lyrics
that take shots at the soul-sucking, high-tech Noughties. (Check out “Crash,” brimming
with grinding guitars and Livingston’s hoarse, desperate vocals; or “Walking in Hellfire,”
a moody tour de force highlighted by some sweltering guitar leads.) Warparty, however,
isn’t just one rocker after another. The disc also features a handful of protest ballads,
Dylan- and Arthur Lee-influenced tracks like the title cut and “American Son,” a
commentary on suburban alienation..” — Chronogram Magazine
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THE TIMES UNION BEST CDS OF 2007
The Last Conspirators WARPARTY (Driving Rain) - " The most potent politically charged
disc of the year, walking the tightrope between punk passion and polished
professionalism. Warparty" is a ferocious album, brimming with barbed, political
protest anthems, set to a surprisingly varied musical attack.. The high energy of
Livingston' punk days is still there for all to hear, but now there's more -- echoes of the
New York Dolls, Little Steven, even Neil Young's Crazy Horse. “Rock 'n' roll keeps on rockin'.”
- The Times Union
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“Like Mike Ness or Iron Cross’ Sab Grey, onetime Morons frontman Tim Livingston has
settled into punk-rock middleagedom : still capable of the two-minute flame-thrower, but
also digging roots rock, harmonicas and the mid-tempo in general, with political insight
you just don’t have when you are 19... There’s OG, Clash-ish punk rock, a John
Cougar-Springsteen hybrid, artier 70’s guitar rock and even a beach-party jam... incisive
and poetic... overall an engaging album “ - HARP Magazine
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"On the Last Conspirators new CD, 'Warparty', the unflappably laid-back
Tim Livingston sounds like he's unraveling a little; conjuring up a more deranged version
of Mick Jones of the Clash. Trust me, that's a good thing, as are tunes like the
mid-seventies CBGB's folk-rock of "American Son", the spacy guitar psychedelics of
"Help", plus the ripping "Tribulation Blues" which recalls vintage Richard Hell & the
Voidoids. And when's the last time you heard a song that reminded you of Arthur Lee's "Message to Pretty"? The title track does just that, at least to these ears. Best of all
is "Crash". Other than the unavoidable reality that it's on a tiny Upstate NY indie with
no distribution, this song has got hit written all over it. " - Here 'Tis Magazine
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“'60s psychedelia and '70s punk rage permeate this eclectic mix of angst rattled
modern rock.” — Garage & Beat Magazine
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“... I hear Love, '60's blues rock balladry, ballsy post-punk mashers like 80's Australians,
and dexterous guitars that prove ballast for Livingston's burning convictions like
"American Son" and our in-foerclosure U.S. of "Innocent"." (drivingrainmusic.com)
—The Big Takeover
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