Last Wars - Dust b/w Fools' Quartet

With three small releases under their belt, Last Wars does not have history backing them. However, what is on their side is their brand of lo-fi synthpop and self-described "minimal weird wave". One of those releases, aside from their May 2020 demo and Flipper cover, is "Dust b/w Fools' Quartet". Despite their relative obscure relation to the dark electronic scene at large, there's a lot to love with Last Wars' double.



'Dust' is the first song that comes up and immediately reminisces post-punk thanks to its rampant but cold drum machine delivery. Whispering vocals with the slightest amount of echo or reverb hit in, but it's not echoed to the point of vagueness like many other lo-fi bands. There's a sense of effort and maintained production throughout the song, and the odd wobbles and waves from the synths only accent the track further. 'Fools' Quartet', then, is a song inspired by Katsuhiro Hayashi of the Sega Sound Team. It's a cold instrumental that sounds like it could be in the soundtrack of a noir-detective flick. Once again, minimalism is the name of the game with twangy guitar, moody synths, and a backing ambient sound that sounds like wind. All-in-all, very well done. 

If anything, this double should put Last Wars on your radar. There are many names floating about right now that claim the retro, lo-fi, post-punk, coldwave tag but few do it so well as this. Whenever I hear lo-fi, I am prepared for reverberation out the ass with drab vocals that sounds like someone's drugged up and barely able to speak. Last Wars slaps all that in the face and has crafted something truly unique for the genre. Seven-and-a-half out of ten! 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Jun 19 2021