The Last Internationale
Though they are based in the city that never sleeps, The Last Internationale aren’t just another rock’n’roll band from New York City. This ensemble is a true blue radical rock’n’roll folk band for the people. Starting off as a duo, Delila Paz (vocals) and Edgey Pires (guitar) signed on with Epic Records last year after chairman and CEO L.A. Reid heard their intense cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportees.” As if they hadn’t already hit the rock’n’roll jackpot, the pair soon found themselves comfortably seated next to some of their idols at Tom Morello’s (Rage Against the Machine) house for Thanksgiving dinner. By the end of the night, The Last Internationale not only had a tryptophan-induced food coma, they also had a new member—Portland native; former RATM drummer Brad Wilk.
Next stop: the studio! Acclaimed musician and producer Brendan O’Brien (who has worked with everyone from RATM to Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen to Neil Young), oversaw the recording of the group’s debut full-length, We Will Reign, alongside executive producer Tom Morello. The album features raw and rebellious rock, with subject matter that includes immigrant rights, native rights, prisoners’ rights, and civil rights in general. The hard-hitting 10-song album delivers a fist-pumping anthem and a stadium-ready sound right out the gate with “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Indian Blood,” a song that deals with the indigenous struggle and the overall struggle for liberation. Check out the equally awe-inspiring cuts “1968,” “Wanted Man,” and the title-track, “We Will Reign.”
It definitely takes a little (okay, a lot) of luck to make it in the music business, but when you have talented musicians playing with other talented musicians, produced by talented musicians…well, you get the point. Now that the record has hit the stores, the politically-charged rock band will spend this fall in the U.K. opening for none other than Mr. Robert Plant. It looks like The Last Internationale won’t be getting much sleep anytime soon. »
– Wendy Worzalla
