The Last Mall

The Zoo Crew, those groovy hippie DJs at THE ZOO radio station, are spinning "The Last Mall" by Steely Dan from their 2003 album Everything Must Go for all the Zoo Freaks out there. This track kicks off the album with a laid-back, apocalyptic vibe, painting a picture of a crumbling consumer culture. One juicy piece of trivia comes from a 2013 review on Something Else!, where writer S. Victor Aaron notes that the song’s “I.G.Y.-like ambling groove” and Walter Becker’s bluesy guitar riffs set a tone of “cheerfully apocalyptic” commentary on post-dotcom America. The lyrics, like “Roll your cart back up the aisle / Kiss the checkout girls goodbye,” capture a nostalgic yet sardonic farewell to the shopping mall era, as shared by fans on r/SteelyDan in a 2024 discussion, where one user called it a “10” for evoking childhood memories of holiday mall trips.

Another tidbit from the same Reddit thread reveals the song’s complexity for musicians, with a fan mentioning its inclusion in a guitar songbook, noting the “fast chord changes” make it a challenging yet rewarding piece to play. The track’s loose, live-in-the-studio feel, as described in the Something Else! review, marks a return to analog recording and a single drummer, Keith Carlock, a feat not seen since 1973’s Countdown to Ecstasy. Donald Fagen himself, in a 2013 comment, suggested Everything Must Go might even outshine its predecessor, Two Against Nature, a sentiment echoed by some fans who feel “The Last Mall” is underrated despite mixed reviews, with one r/SteelyDan user giving it a modest 6.5, calling it the “weakest first song” on any Steely Dan album.

Steely Dan, the brainchild of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, started in the late 1960s at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where the two met in 1967. Fagen overheard Becker practicing guitar in a café, and their shared love for jazz, blues, and Beat literature sparked a creative partnership. By 1969, they were in New York City, working on a movie soundtrack and backing an “oldies” act before landing in Los Angeles in 1971 as staff songwriters for ABC Records. Their songs, too complex for ABC’s artists, led producer Gary Katz to suggest forming a band. With guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, and vocalist David Palmer, they created Steely Dan, named after a dildo from William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch. Their 1972 debut, Can’t Buy a Thrill, with hits like “Do It Again,” set the stage for their signature blend of rock, jazz, and cryptic lyrics.

By 1974, Becker and Fagen ditched live performances to focus on studio work, crafting albums like Aja and Gaucho with top-tier session musicians. After a hiatus in the 1980s, they reunited for Two Against Nature in 2000, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year, followed by Everything Must Go in 2003. Becker’s death in 2017 left Fagen to carry on, and the band remains a cult favorite, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. You can keep up with Steely Dan on their official website, Facebook, and X. Fans also flock to Dandom.com, a long-running fan site, and the Steely Dan Fans Facebook group for community discussions. Note that Steely Dan doesn’t have an official Instagram, as confirmed by fans on r/SteelyDan, though Fagen occasionally posts on his personal Facebook.