The Last Place

iTunes Review

The Last Place takes up where Army Navy’s 2008 self-titled debut left off, with bright, melodic music that falls neatly into the camp of breathlessly sunny pop inhabited by bands like Math and Physics Club. Modeling their sound on the best of the best of the first wave of vintage pop recycling (Material Issue, the db’s, Teenage Fanclub), Army Navy does a fine job of sounding contemporary and fresh. Vocalist Justin Kennedy has an airy, boyish style that’s immensely embraceable, the guitars chime and sparkle, and there are melodies for days. Classic power-pop riffs fuel tracks like “Last Legs,” “The Long Goodbye,” and “A Circus,” while a whiff of Merseybeat permeates the track “Ode to Janice Melt.” It’s hard to say what’s more pleasing: these thrilling homages, or the band’s adrenalin-edged pop surges (“Feathered,” “I Think It’s Gonna Happen”) and mid-tempo mood changes (the dark “The Hunter,” the dreamy “Pastoral”) that are uniquely theirs. The Last Place documents a love affair’s demise in intimate, colorful strokes, while offering an embarrassment of musical pleasure.