Three years since their sophomore record ‘Wellness’ and six since their Debut ‘In A Million Years’ Brisbane legends Last Dinosaurs are back with the highly anticipated ‘Yumeno Garden’. Welcome back fellas.
“We spent a bit of time in Japan writing this album and I wanted to incorporate that element into the artwork of the album. The art is really symbolic of our story at this point in time…we look foreign in the Japanese garden balcony… the landscape itself is all cacti to represent a…burning desire to tour the US”.
‘Eleven’ the first track is inspired by the Netflix original ‘Stranger Things’. Its infectious tune and guitar licks cut right through pleasing its lyricism - “if I lose my head / I’m sorry”.
“Japanese gardens are a place for contemplation but behind the scenes is a delicate process of engineering and mastering the natural environment to perfection. Our album is very contemplative. It’s indie pop but if you listen closely you’ll find some very introspective themes. A garden is also a symbol of growth and development. You have to take care of your garden if you want to produce nice flowers and food. Making an album for us was much the same. We had to record our sounds with great care and consideration so that the end product was delicious.”
With a fanatic following they premiered the second track in a secret warehouse launch. Lead single ‘Dominos’ demonstrates the Last Dinosaurs’ raw talent for producing a solid catchy riff packaged in that euphorically up-beat bouquet we’ve come to love – coming to a festival stage near you. For those who miss the good old days of indie rock this is the dream.
“ ’Yumeno’ means dream in Japanese. I thought this would fit really well because I think of this album as dreamy. Often when coming up with melodies and rhythms you kind of have to put yourself in a meditative state, almost half asleep to really get in the zone. Sometimes my ideas come to me in that dream state before you’re asleep. The music to me isn’t pinned to any place geographically. Not Japan, not Australia. It’s from the middle of nowhere, somewhere in your dreams.”
‘Bass God’ and ‘Sense’ are tight tracks that show incredible polish without losing their gritty indie-rock roots. There is a sense of nostalgia for a time never lived evoked by the trademark amped vocals and catchy lyricism. Wherever you are, you really do feel like you’re coming home from that long trip away.
“This album is very different to our others because Lach has written half of the album. So, for starters, fans can expect to hear 5 songs with Lach singing. He sounds a lot like me so you probably wouldn’t even realise haha. But his tracks are all on the B side of the vinyl with my 5 songs playing first. I wanted to show off this aspect of the band so dividing our tracks was the best way to make a statement. We are very competitive brothers which is extremely good for making music.”
The punchy first half of the records drives into more contemplative territory with tracks like ‘Italo Disco’and 'Happy' giving a psychedelic ambience that might fit well into a live setting.
Although in these last tgrew albums the band has experimented between glittering reverbs and edgier indie rock their lyrics have always been relatable while being evocatively contemplative. What we get is the raw vocals of In A Million Years with the clean polish instrumentals of Wellness.
From their debut this third full-length effort the band has come a long way and yet it feels as though with Yumeno Garden, the guys are coming home. It’s an insanely well-polished offering from a band that has really established their place in the indie-rock scene.
“The world of music has changed drastically, and we are all just trying to figure out how we are supposed to float in this ocean of bands. The internet has been good for spreading music, but it killed the old school ways of selling records. Definitely, a double-edged sword but everyone knows that”.
Unlike their namesake The Last Dinosaurs’ are more relevant than ever, fully immune to this double-edged sword recently embarking on a tour that sold out in less than an hour – We really do hope they live forever. Sean Caskey and his band are in a league of their own with a sound that really is immutable. If In A Million Years was a 10/10 then Yumeno Garden is a Last Dinosaurs/10
You can listen to the album here. Keep an eye on the LivewireAu feed and the official Last Dinos pages for festival and gig dates.
Sounds Like #LastDinosaurs!
Interview excerpts are of Sean Caskey for AsiaLive365
Members: Sean Caskey (vocals, guitar) and Lachlan Caskey (guitar) and Michael Sloane (bass)
Yumeno Garden is presented by Dew Process Records