Last American Hero (album)
| Last American Hero | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover of the 2010 vinyl edition | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 10, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | Hypnagogic pop[1] | |||
| Length | 58:31 29:57 (vinyl edition) | |||
| Label | Taped Sounds | |||
| Producer | James Ferraro | |||
| James Ferraro chronology | ||||
| ||||
Last American Hero is a studio album by American musician James Ferraro, released on November 10, 2008 by Taped Sounds. It was later repressed in March 2010 by Olde English Spelling Bee.
Background and style[edit]
Last American Hero was inspired by Ferraro's experiences of living in a "kind of insane gated community for senior citizens", where his grandparents resided in Florida.[2] He recalled feeling like he was in a "weird science experiment of consumerism" in the community, which consisted of "large flat-screen TVs, and insane Ikea couches that you can't even sit on because they're too big", as well as Chrysler PT Cruisers.[2] As Ferraro explained, "this infrastructure of gated communities and Wal-Marts and Targets, and these complexes of shopping – that was their entire world."[2]
The album incorporates heavily phased, bluesy guitar playing and saturated synthesizers, delay and loop effects, and thin, compressed recording quality.[1] The cover of the tape release shows two unidentified bikers standing next to a saguaro cactus. The Olde English Spelling Bee repress includes a different cover, a picture of a Best Buy storefront along with a superimposed image from the courtroom TV program Judge Judy.[3][1]
Release and reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Fact |   [1] |
Last American Hero was released on November 10, 2008 through Taped Sounds,[4][1] before being reissued in March 2010 by Olde English Spelling Bee as an abridged vinyl release.[5]
Writing for Fact, Kiran Sande called Last American Hero "a magnificent record" and wrote that "Ferraro's willingness to engage with the real banal, liminal ugliness of consumer life is undeniably interesting, and on this album at least, the music feels emboldened rather than burdened by it."[1] Critic David Keenan called it "fantastic" and described it as "a series of meditations on American concepts of heroism and freedom as refracted via MTV, Hollywood and various black magic marketing strategies."[6]
Track listing[edit]
Original cassette release[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Last American Hero" | 29:57 |
| 2. | "Adrenaline's End" | 28:34 |
| Total length: | 58:31 | |
Vinyl edition[edit]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "F-150 Night Eros At Highways End" | 11:58 |
| 2. | "Blacktop Tumble Weed" | 8:54 |
| 3. | "Headlines (Access Hollywood)" | 7:15 |
| Total length: | 29:57 | |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f Sande, Kiran. "James Ferraro: Last American Hero". Fact Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ a b c "Red Bull Music Academy".
- ^ Reynolds, Simon (March 2011). "'Hypnagogic pop' and the landscape of Southern California". frieze. No. 137. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- ^ "Last American Hero, by James Ferraro". OLDE ENGLISH SPELLING BEE. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
- ^ Simpson, Paul. "Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- ^ Keenan, David. "Last American Hero – James Ferraro". Volcanic Tongues. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
