July 12th, 2018
NYC
New York City cult Y2K-era hardcore/screamo outfit THE LAST CRIME - with members hailing from the likes of Beyond, 1.6 Band, Vise Massacre, The Third Kind, Ova Looven, 52X, Raw Eagle, and other NYC outfits over the years - will issue their final recordings this summer. The sprawling two-track release was recorded at Inner Ear with J. Robbins in 1998 and has remained unreleased until now.
THE LAST CRIME was born in 1996 when Kevin Egan, following his time in forerunning NYHC outfit Beyond and the subsequent post-hardcore outfit 1.6 Band, recruited friends from local the Long Island and New York City scene. Formed with Egan and Steve DePalo both on guitar and vocals, Eric Svirida on bass, and Richard Muller on drums, the band erupted with a unified energy which immediately saw them playing live heavily around the region. Playing eighty-seven shows in their first year and turning through several bassists including Chris Donohue before Mike Ciasullo filled the slot, THE LAST CRIME recorded their first release with Alap Momin, a self-titled four-song 10" and CD, released on NYC-based The Omega.
The band continued performing with bands from across the spectrum of the DIY punk, hardcore, emo, and metal scenes abroad, performing with Today Is The Day, Neurosis, and countless others, and toured with the likes of Dystopia, Half Man, and more for the next couple of years. In 1998, THE LAST CRIME made their way to record with J. Robbins (Government Issue, Jawbox) at Inner Ear Studios - the point of inception for many seminal releases from the likes of The Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Mary Timony, Foo Fighters, and more - for their second release. However, the outfit disbanded shortly after the sessions, and the songs never saw release until now, two decades later.
Newly-formed DIY cassette label Sunken Temple Records will release THE LAST CRIME's final recordings, the cassette featuring the two extensive songs from this session with Robbins - the nearly eight-minute-long "Operate/Medicate" and nearly seven-minute-long "Man vs. Shark" - which were mastered in 2018 by Jon Florencio at Produkt Sound and completed with paintings by Richard Muller and design by Muller and Dalton Ryan.
Muller issues of this unearthed recording, "After a long run of playing tons of shows and touring, we finally made our way to Inner Ear to record with J. Robbins. Omega got us there. We didn't last long after that and these songs were never pressed even though we broke our backs; the best time, and the worst time ever. Hail Sunken Temple Records for doing this now."
Sunken Temple Records is a newly-formed label founded by old-school New York cohorts issuing the lost recordings of small but great New York bands from the '90s they gave and give a shit about. The label will start with limited cassette runs and move towards vinyl pressings and more as the label issues more titles in the months ahead.
THE LAST CRIME's "Operate/Medicate" and "Man vs. Shark" will see cassette and digital releaseJuly 31st; find digital preorders at Bandcamp HERE and cassette preorders at the label shop HERE.
Since the demise of THE LAST CRIME, Kevin Egan is a film and television producer and has spent time with projects including The Lost Pilgrims Of The Second Plateau and more. Mike Ciasullo is a professional tattooist and has been involved with 52X, Raw Eagle, and others. Richard Muller is a professional tattoo artist and plays with the likes of Vise Massacre, The Third Kind, Gridfailure, and more. Steve DePalo is a sound designer and has played in Dawn In Bathos and Ova Looven, both also with Chris Donohue. Eric Svirida currently fronts Too Many Voices.