Multi-instrumentalist The Last Domino, also known as one-man-band John Orr, has been working on his latest album, Two Thirds Of Our Lives, for the last eleven(!) years. It’s fitting that the long-awaited album has such an aptly-named title – released on its namesake (February 3rd, of 2023 – 2/3 in every sense of the word), the album is a conceptual look at how we spend our lives… Asleep, awake, and alive.
The Indianapolis-born, LA-based artist jam packs Lives with ’90s adjacent riffing – heavy buzzsaw guitars; ear-shredding drum bombast; and a thudding, grungy bass presence can be found everywhere. Orr’s menacing vocal presence is omnipresent, sauntering and slinking through his songs like a snake slithering through the shadows before striking at lightning speed.
Album opener “One Third: Asleep” channels Nine Inch Nails with it’s haunting delayed guitar and electronic elements. Orr embodies the deep baritone of Trent Reznor and/or Depeche Mode here as he layers the song full of epic guitar wails and squelching bass synths. This sort of late ’80s/mid ’90s synth-tinged energy is sprinkled all throughout the album. “Black Jeans, Brown Booze” pulsates with inescapable Reznor energy, while the very-danceable “Flylashes” could stand alongside the dance-punk of the mid to late ’00s (think The Rapture or The Bravery). Sure, we’re throwing out a lot of decades here – but that just stands to show Orr’s flexibility as a songwriter.
As he launches into track two and album highlight “Wake Up Call,” Orr brings the energy of Rise Against (if they had a delay pedal) as he screams his way through his own personal brand of anthemic pop-punk. This punk intensity can be found throughout the album and often showcases Orr’s best songwriting – another album highlight, “Constellations Below,” starts and stops with a jittery intensity that had our hearts skipping a beat.
Orr is no stranger to full-blown riff-rock – songs like “Paperweight” flex big, muscular bass riffs with an almost bluesy energy. As he launches into a descending pre-chorus chord progression, you can feel a sense of urgency building, culminating in a scream-sung chorus that’s as energetic as it is crushing. Same goes for the nimble fretwork found on songs like “The Heist” which slaps with borderline classic-rock energy. Orr loves to pummel your eardrums with a wall of distorted guitar chords; it’s fun, it’s heavy, and it makes you want to roll your windows down and throw up the devil horns.
If you’re a fan of heavier music, Orr’s got you covered there too. “The Reds of Our Eyes (Two Thirds Of Our Lives)” and “More Christian Than Christian” are packed full of guttural screaming and discordant instrumentals. It’s clear that Orr was on a mission here to cover all of his musical touchstones with a wide swath of paint. His canvas is Two Thirds Of Our Lives and it’s as eclectic and intense as any Jackson Pollock masterpiece.
Two Thirds Of Our Lives is available now via Spotify and Apple Music, as well as a deluxe offering via Bandcamp. Be sure to check out the visuals for single “Paperweight” below.