757's

Blending pop elements into 40-grit sonic sandpaper and dinging it with a signature Minneapolis punk rock router, the 757s themselves are surprised the album is seeing the light of day. “We tried to quit,” says bassist and vocalist Paul Pirner, “but it’s unavoidable. We can’t get away from it.” Formed in 2007 after one careening, ear-blistering practice, the veteran 757 crew continues to put out records and live shows despite long odds and long teeth. “I thought moving my family to Colorado would kill the thing,” says drummer Steve Sutherland. “And yet, here I am, and its starting to piss me off.”

Following on the heels of their first two critically acclaimed albums, Tell the Pilgrims it’s a Potluck and Freeway Surrender, and a ferocious run through the SXSW festival, Last Laugh (2010) captures a band continuing the musical arc of its first two albums while staking out new territory. The band returned to the familiar discumbobulation of Mike Wisti’s Albatross Studios in Minneapolis to retain the raw, edgy sound, wound up the tape machine and hit record. “it’s a post-post modern rock group attempting to defy the laws of ageing,” says guitarist and vocalist Jimmy Peterson. “We’ll keep going, I guess,” says guitarist and vocalist Seth Zimmerman. “I mean, it’s a little too late to do anything else.”