Steven Faulkner – “Last Drunk Guy”
Steven Faulkner – “Last Drunk Guy” – Single Review
Ahhh yes, the world is burning. Good times.
The revitalized and refreshed version of Steven Faulkner continues his resurgence this year with his latest single “Last Drunk Guy” coming out officially in a couple of weeks on August 14th. It’s one of the tracks you’d put into the catalog of the more aggressive side of his musical persona, but considering what has inspired this theme, that makes plenty sense to me. Taking on the absolutely ridiculous nature of performative politics that we’re currently living through on the stupidest possible timeline to be born in, “Last Drunk Guy” skewers what’s happening in a society that’s becoming ever increasingly possessed by victimhood, and rightly so. Day after day after day we are bearing witness to the most disingenuous arguments to have ever been made masquerading as policy, and with each new dawn we wake up to the headlines of some other disgusting pig in politics trying to become the new edgelord of the universe.
It’s exhausting. We’re exhausted, collectively. I’m exhausted too, and typically I’ve always been a political junkie. Even with the numbers starting to finally reveal the effects of that wear and tear we’ve been experiencing in poll after poll right now, it’s extremely hard to have faith in a system that has been entirely hollowed out by corruption. We’re basically in a holding pattern, worldwide. We’re waiting to see how bad this war between the United States & Iran will get, what other countries will be pulled into it, and what the true effect of it will be on the lives of everyone that doesn’t have the luxury of focusing solely on the stock market. We’re waiting to see how the midterm elections will be weaponized and manipulated by that chunky orange idiot when they don’t go his way. Then of course we’ve got an even longer slog towards his theoretical departure after his term expires, which I think we all know isn’t going to be the peaceful transfer of power we’d hope for, so much as a recycled version of the horrors we all watched on January 6th. It’s always funny to me when folks ask why I decided to go into a career that is based in music, considering the alternatives. Why on earth would anyone want to take a job in anything that is just going to have them endlessly arguing about stuff that means nothing with a contrary opinion that was decided by the color of their party before they even sat down on the panel to discuss it all? It doesn’t sound like much fun to me, yet the numbers on the average bland political post from Joe or Jenny Nobody completely dwarfs anybody’s sincere effort to turn your attention towards art or music. If there’s a hell, believe me, we’re already living in it – the “Last Drunk Guy” is running/ruining our lives.
Or as Steven says in his new single, “it’ll take a generation to repair your damage.” Awwwww! Isn’t his optimism freakin’ CUTE? Adorable really. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it only took a single generation at this point? The fuckery has so permeated our society that I have a hard time believing all is not lost myself, but sure Steven, I’ll go with your theory for now. It’s as close to sunshine and rainbows as I think we’re gonna get at the moment, how about that? I might not be the last, but I’m certainly the new drunk guy at the party these days, proudly hoisting pint after pint after pint knowing there’s not a damn thing that I can do about anything to solve the world’s problems, nor am I in the headspace where I’d believe it would be worth it to try. I can’t even get people to genuinely give a shit about music over politics for Christ’s sake! If there was one battle that should have been easy to win, it was that one my friends…so cheers.
What makes “Last Drunk Guy” interesting to me beyond Steven’s pinpoint accuracy, is that it’s both a step forward and a step backward for him at the same time, yet both steps are still going in the right direction. Lemme explain. If you’re familiar with Faulkner’s tunes, you might remember his time spent in Jigsaw Man, or the work he did on his solo EP called Love.Fury.Remorse.Vengeance – and if you do, not only are you among the more savvy music listeners on this planet we share, but you’ll recognize the more familiar aggressive and intense sound he’s working with on this new single. While reverting back towards that could have been a step backwards for him, he’s combined it with his newfound inspired energy, enhanced skills, and a steady assist from Kevin Figueiredo of Extreme pounding on the drums – so rather than it being a step backwards at all, he’s taken what works from his past and refined it into what works for Steven today. As a longtime listener to his music, hearing “Last Drunk Guy” sounded like a solid pairing between the experience he gained in his past music and the chaos of the present political era, resulting in a potent dose of a new angst-ridden anthem suited perfectly for the times we’re in now.
Whereas you might tend to find Faulkner charting a path through the realm of Alt-Pop, he’s shifted his sound in this single much further towards the quirky stop/start, psychedelically-tinged side of music that you’d find in stuff like Queens Of The Stone Age or Them Crooked Vultures. I might have my opinions on what side of his sound I personally enjoy more, but I’m definitely not going to deny that this more aggressive side of his sound works very well too. Do I think the chorus is the biggest hook in “Last Drunk Guy” and the largest reason you’ll come back to it for another spin? Not really no – I’d probably tell you that the verses have more of a grip on us as listeners. That’s not me telling you he hasn’t created a chorus that’s worthy of your time – he has. It’s much more of a comment on the fact that the verses have more pull than you usually find in most tunes. The chorus is what’s gonna make it memorable for ya, but the reality is, both this song’s main parts are rock solid.
Obviously the drums slay, it’s the dude from Extreme – but if you were wondering whether or not Steven has strong enough chops of his own to keep up to such a renowned talent, this is the song that’ll prove he does. Not only is he performing this innovative new song at an all-star level of his own, but “Last Drunk Guy” is the kind of compelling material we need right now to combat a world that has almost stopped thinking altogether. The thought-provoking lyricism he’s put in here, and indeed into the video that will also be released with this single, are sure to catch some attention from across the whole spectrum. So be ready for that Steven…as much as I applaud the decision to put this song out there into the world, I am also very familiar with the amount of asshats that’ll be willing to put down their banjos for a second and come out of the woodwork to drop a misspelled comment or two at ya. I’m assuming you don’t make a song like “Last Drunk Guy” without expecting that to happen – hell, I’d tell you that you make a song like this as a specific invitation for that to occur. Faulkner is in bring it on mode, and again rightly so – the people can only be pushed so far, and he’s venting on behalf of us all.
*clinks glass – cheers & thanks Steven, *burp…we appreciate it.
Find out more about Steven Faulkner from his official website at: https://stevenfaulknermusic.co.uk
Click this link right here to be the next artist or band featured here at sleepingbagstudios, because hey – why not? All the cool kids are doing it.
