Sometimes hard work does pay off. Case in point, the recent success obtained by the four tirelessly enthusiastic musicians who form the Buffalo-based alt-rock band Last Conservative. While most bands consider the notion of work to be nothing short of a four-letter word, Last Conservative has broken the mold and garnered the right to deservedly claim its hard-earned victories. Those victories include a deal with Goo Goo Doll Robby Takac’s new label Good Charamel Records and the release of the band’s strongest recorded effort to date, On To the Next One.

Formed in 1997 by vocalist/guitarist and songwriter TJ Zindle, Last Conservative has filled the past seven years with a relentless touring schedule and near constant rehearsal sessions crafting new material. During that time, the band has also made frequent trips to the recording studio and worked with the likes of Armand John Petri (of Goo Goo Dolls, Sixpence None the Richer and 10,00 Maniacs production fame) at Dave Fridmann’s Tarbox Road Studios. After numerous shifts in personnel, Last Conservative has finally settled on the solid line-up of Zindle, bassist Mike Zeis, guitarist David Julian and drummer Tom McClusky. The band has also found a producer with a definite understanding of the sounds in the group’s collective head: Robby Takac. “Working with Robby was fantastic,” says Zindle. “He really knew how to get the most out of every song and was so inspiring.” That inspiration is well exemplified by the sounds and songwriting on the band’s latest CD.

On To the Next One is a sonic whirlwind of dynamic melodies and super-charged rhythms. Within the opening moments of the recording’s first song and title track, the driving double-tracked guitar tones and throaty screams of genuine anguish that jump-start the CD, the listener is put on short notice that an intense musical experience awaits them over the course of the disc’s 13 tracks. “Can we start again? /Can we get it right? /Can we get through the novelty of your sympathy tonight?” sings Zindle in a voice that trembles with controlled rage while the backdrop of Julian’s fiery guitar playing and Zeis and McClusky’s air-tight rhythmic accompaniment sets a sympathetic tone for his emotive vocal phrasing.

While the sound of the opening song is forceful and immediate, Last Conservative refuses to be trapped into subscribing to one particular musical formula (no matter how much that formula undeniably works to the group’s advantage). To be sure, the disc is filled with the same sort of anthemic, sing-along choruses and arena-rock guitar histrionics found on the recordings of bands like Radiohead and the Counting Crows, yet the diverse songwriting and the band’s crafty musical dexterity ensures that Last Conservative is not beholden to any individual influence.

The disc closes with “Mary,” a heart-rending and passionate ballad of devotion and love. The track exhibits the same soul-bearing emotiveness found of Elvis Costello’s most effective tracks and fills out the band’s basic four-piece arrangement with the addition of symphonic touches and an experimental aural tapestry. This final track indicates the depth of the group’s songwriting capabilities and hints at its seemingly limitless musical future. The phrase “honing its craft to perfection” applies directly to the career trajectory of this now musically compatible quartet and its ever-evolving songwriting.

After years of toiling in the underbelly of Buffalo’s numerous dive-bars and music clubs, Last Conservative has managed the presumably impossible feat of elevating itself to the dizzying heights of headlining shows and festivals (and landing choice opening slots for the likes of Sugar Ray, Jimmy Eat World and The Thrills in the process). Now, with a nationally distributed CD in its catalog and the backing of an important new indie label, the band’s countless hours of hard work and effort are ready to pay off in a big way.