Band:	Skullflower
Album:	Last Shot At Heaven
Style:	Noise rock
Release date:	1993
A review by:	Lucas

01. Caligula
02. Get The Horn
03. Dufus
04. Bad Alchemy
05. Elf Piercer
06. Rotten Sun II [live]
07. Mystic Eye
08. Blown Dukes

Just this morning I woke up and thought to myself: 'today would be a good day to write a review containing the word 'swagger'. A few moments later I found myself in a bathrobe, cup of coffee in one hand, scratching my private parts, staring at my album collection. 'What album has the most swagger out of this unorganized bunch?'

The one and only answer: Skullflower's Last Shot At Heaven. With its fantastically desperate and dramatic title and its utter and total disregard for music's unwritten laws (i.e. thou shalt bore the listener with mindless melodies and cute little harmonies), it's got some serious swagger. (achievement unlocked!).

So, what is it that makes Skullflower's Last Shot At Heaven so awesome? Because it is, honestly, awesome. Well, for starters, it is noise. Pure noise. I honestly have no idea what the 'instruments' are. There are the madly pounding drums and occasionally you can clearly hear a bass, ok. And then there is the noisy blur. In some sections the blur obviously consists of highly distorted guitars, but at other moments it could be anything. Anything, god knows what, mixed into one catastrophic whole and artificially/mechanically/digitally/chemically altered into the hideous cacophony it is. Wavering back and forth, with varying degrees of intensity and hardness, meandering, flowing, stuttering on and on and on.

But guess what, there is a point to all of this. Turn up the volume. Yes, that might sound counter-intuitive. Do it anyway. Turn it up, close your eyes. Let it wash over you. Get it now? Do you hear the melodies? Do you hear the catchiness buried underneath? It is mesmerizing. What may sound like harsh noise at first is actually, to the accustomed ear, a highly proficient and profuse oasis of gently rocking noises. With the occasional sandstorm.

Pretentious? Maybe. Who cares. Pretentiousness is only a burden to the outsider. And who gives a shit about his opinion anyway? Last Shot At Heaven is divine.