Cable might be one of the best bands that you have never heard. In today's punk and hardcore atmosphere there is a serious lack of the visceral disgust that bands like Cable have produced. Originally part of the burgeoning "noise-core" movement that included Deadguy and later Kiss It Goodbye, Cable outlasted their peers in both longevity and creativity with their sound taking on more rock qualities, but also moving more towards a stoner, almost doom appeal. After roughly ten years of activity in which the band has produced three EPs and four LPs, Cable has decided to call it quits. But, they decided to leave us all with one last parting shot entitled Last Call.
Last Call is the last release from Cable and they really pull out the stops on this release. It is a CD and a DVD in a 2-disc set that collects a variety of songs. This set covers the expanse of their career including the last song that they recorded together, "Last Call," (obviously) as well as their last live set on both the CD and the DVD (a video version) and an almost hour long movie about the life of the band. There is an abundance of material to sift through and enjoy.
The new track, "Last Call" kicks the whole package off and running. The song sounds thick and heavy with a decent amount of noise and makes excellent use of dynamics and push their arranging abilities. It progresses at a steady and even pace. If this is indeed the last song that Cable writes together than it is a great way to go close.
Cable's last live performance begins with "I Love it When You Crawl," a dirge of thick sound from their Pigs Never Fly album that actually sounds like its moniker. The next one is "Sunday Driver" off of Gutter Queen, possibly the band's finest album. It's a noisy affair that sounds downright painful. There is a ton of negative feeling that absolutely emanates from this track. The band than hits with "Missoula," which is a loud boogie. It definitely has southern rock feel to it, but it still maintains that noisy sludgy edge. The crew seamlessly slips into "It's My Right to be an Asshole" which is followed by "Empty and Loaded" and finally closes with "Pigs Never Fly." The last track is beautifully ugly sounding. It is just so dirty and noisy. The vocals sound shredded and haggard. It is almost perfect. Personally, I would have liked to hear more tracks representing their earlier material. That's not discrediting their older material at all; I just think that it is a bit underrepresented in this live performance. But, overall the live portion of Last Call has an excellent production quality in addition to the band playing well.
The rest of the album contains a sampling from everything that Cable has recorded over the years. This part also serves as a soundtrack of sorts to the tracks used in the movie part of the DVD. The CD closes with an okay quality but absolutely vicious version of "Gutter Queen." It makes me wish that I had seen the band at that time period.
Last Call is a great way to be introduced to Cable. It contains a snippet of every aspect of the band. The DVD portion gives interested parties the full lowdown - at least the important parts - of their entire existence. The documentary movie also keeps its humor and does not ruminate on the genius of the band, which is good and keeps the pace moving along without getting boring. The CD portion is well paced. It contains some great songs that showcase what the band did well.
