The Rentals

Last Little Life EP

October 25, 2007

By Mr. Marlowe

**** / ****

Released August 14, 2007

Is it possible that the best album of 2007 is merely four songs long? One listen to The Rentals’ Last Little Life EP and you might believe it so.

Matt Sharpe tackles his classic Rentals’ sound with four distinct tunes (one of them a re-imagining of a tune from 1995’s The Return of The Rentals) that each rock in their own unique fashion. Opener Last Romantic Day combines the signature Moog Rentals sound with Sharpe’s more recent acoustic persona. Add to that an intricate opening guitar picking pattern and the sugary sweet vocal harmonies of Rachel Haden, Lauren Chipman, and Sara Radle and you’ve got a modern day new wave classic with punctuation marks a flyin’. Follow-up Little Bit of You comes out of the gate even faster. Voices weave together in ways the old Row Row row Your Boat sing-a-long could only dream making for the most poppy Rentals sound of the bunch. Next comes the tune that is possibly the best of the four, Life Without a Brain. A clever twist on the old Rentals’ tune The Man With Two Brains, this one is even better. The lyrics alone are pure coming-of-age (middle age, that is) brilliance. Combined with an astounding number of clever instrumentations including trombone flairs, string nuances, bass flourishes, synth strains, and was that a xylophone?, Life Without a Brain is the crescendo of The Rentals comeback. The denouement, however, is not to be outdone. Sweetness and Tenderness is re-invented as more than a goodbye but rather a “see you again soon.” And oh my stars, can I wait for The Rentals slated 2008 release another day? I think not.

Listening to the Last Little Life EP I don’t know if I want to cry, jump up and down with glee, kiss a beautiful girl, rededicate myself to some hobby fallen by the wayside, or maybe some combination of the lot. No matter, after a dozen plays of this album there is but one certain notion in my mind: Matt Sharpe is a genius. Using time to his advantage Sharpe has made the most of the last fifteen years transforming from Weezer bassist to ‘90s new wave revivalist to forlorn alt-country troubadour to playing his classics live with country rock band Goldenboy and finally bringing it all back home and beyond with his latest Rentals revitalization. And thank the stars I’ve been around to see it all.

My friends, there is no question: Matt Sharpe is a genius.

Copyright 2007, Scott Muoio and Undependent Media. You may link to this review but may not reproduce it in full for your own means.