FOUNDRYMUSIC's blog: "STEVE SPEAKS"

WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF The Last Goodnight's Poison Kiss

Want to win an autographed copy? It can be yours if you can answer this question:

"What's the title of the second single off The Last Goodnight's
'Poison Kiss'?"
A. "Stay Here"
B. "Stay Beautiful"
C. "Stay Away"

EMAIL US with your answer. A winner will be selected out of all correct entries. You will be notified by email if you won. If you didn't, you won't be, Pretty simple right?

Here's a little info on the band:

Writing and recording Poison Kiss, their major-label debut, The
Last Goodnight set the bar almost scarily high: “We wanted to write
great songs that no one ever heard before,” states singer Kurtis
John. Indeed, while influences and references range from Ella
Fitzgerald to Richard Ashcroft to Supertramp to Sly Stone to ELO to
U2 to Massive Attack, Poison Kiss is impossible to pigeonhole.
“It’s about vibe. We keep the spontaneity and adventure in every
aspect,” John explains. “In the studio, we built whole songs using
the versatility of drum machines and laid down live drums last. We
wanted to let the rhythm of the song define itself through the
creation. I love the unexpected crafting of musical and lyrical
desperation and vulnerability mixed with upbeat hooks.”

The result is 12 cinematic, singular songs, rife with ‘80s musical
references and classic rock influences, but with a modern resonance.
Poison Kiss is piano-driven but guitar heavy, and at once rhythmic,
lush and soulful. From the first single, “Pictures of You,” a
collage of poignant and vivid vignettes, to the strident title track,
where the sounds of crackling vinyl meshes with a melancholy but
buoyant, layered vibe, Poison Kiss takes an emotional journey. John
compares The Last Goodnight to favorite actors and films: “It’s
Tom Hanks in Castaway because he’s lost and lonely, somehow
stumbling across Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, because the music
has a sultry sexiness, then there’s a healthy dose of soul like Pam
Grier in Foxy Brown, but touched with a bit of dark strangeness from
Clockwork Orange.”

But that’s not how the Connecticut-based band initially sounded.
“We’ve grown up a lot since our first indie releases,” explains
guitarist Anton Yurack. “On Poison Kiss, there’s a reason and
purpose for each song.” When Yurack says the band has “grown
up,” that’s literal: The Last Goodnight met in high school. “I
was at a house party where I ran into Mike--we both went to Enfield
High in Connecticut,” recalls John. “There was only one guitar at
the party, and Mike was playing some Metallica—fast, impressive
things--and the girls were like ‘WOW!’ When girls asked for Chili
Peppers or Cat Stevens, I’d grab the guitar and play that. So Mike
and I started a band with a bass player, Leif Christensen, also from
our school. Our original drummer went to Enfield too, as did Anton.
We were and are totally a band of friends.”

Under The Last Goodnight’s original band name Renata, the lineup
earned kudos from the Hartford Advocate, including 2003's Best
Original Rock band. Two indie releases under the Renata moniker
earned airplay and opening slots for Lifehouse, Avril Lavigne, Howie
Day, and more. Between college and jobs at T.G.I. Friday’s, they
played in Boston, New York and Connecticut---then piled into a van
for more extensive tours. After a 2004 gig at the Whisky in Los
Angeles the band slept in their van, woke up at LaBrea and Sunset and
got a fortuitous call from A&R exec/producer Jeff Blue. A fruitful
period of songwriting ensued, the band writing and demoing hundreds
of tunes between L.A. and Connecticut, which led to a deal with
Virgin Records/Capitol Music Group in 2006.

With Blue producing, the band set about achieving their sonic goals,
using gear in unusual ways: “In ‘Return to Me,’ we ran guitar
strings over a couch with reverb and delay,” notes John, whose
musical experimentation started early: “My father is blind, but he
plays piano and loves blues and jazz. Growing up, we couldn’t go
outside and throw a ball like the other kids and fathers, but we had
this special musical bond,” John relates. “When I was 7, we’d
listen to Dr. John and Billie Holiday and Guns and Roses, and my dad
would teach me to hear things out on the piano. Because he can’t
see, he doesn’t play in a schooled or traditional way. I still use
the odd finger techniques I learned from him. So when we ran guitar
strings over a couch with a reverb and delay on “Return to Me,” it
didn’t faze me much. Back then he said something that stuck with me.
He said, ‘just keep it simple, K, and strike an emotion.’ I think
of that to this day when I’m writing.”

The songs on Poison Kiss bear him out. “Pictures of You” is “a
collage of life, a landscape of lyrics that paints a picture of
‘what if,’” explains John. “What if a different path was
taken, or someone was dealt the wrong set of cards?” With the
empathy infusing Poison Kiss, it makes sense that The Last Goodnight
isn’t only about the music—“there’s an energy the band has
that I want to put to the best possible use,” John explains.
“It’s about what we can do to change the world.” It’s not mere
lip service: The Last Goodnight plays benefits and works for groups
including the Children’s Cancer Foundation, Children’s Diabetes,
food shelters and more. The Last Goodnight are integral pieces in
the “collage of life” they write about. And they invite everyone
from punkers to pop fans to partake of a Poison Kiss, as Yurack
concludes, “I think our music has a universal appeal, because it’s
emotional and heartfelt and has beauty, all within a modern rock and
soul context. It’s about how you allow the music to hit your soul.”

For more info see The Bands Official Website