Last night's episode of The Last Of Us, HBO's blockbuster drama about life in the mushroom-zombie apocalypse, ended with a Pearl Jam song that's been part of the Last Of Us lore since before The Last Of Us was a TV show. The show is based on a pair of much-loved video games, and in 2020's That Last Of Us II, there's an emotional scene where one character plays "Future Days," a song from Pearl Jam's 2013 album Lightning Bolt, for another. (In the show's reality, the civilized world ended in 2003, so I don't know how that song had a chance to exist, but nevermind.) Last night's episode of the Last Of Us TV show included an emotional callback to that moment. Now, Pearl Jam have released a new EP that's a tie-in with The Last Of Us. On their website, the band writes, "If you know, you know."
This isn't the first time that Pearl Jam have embraced their connection with The Last Of Us. In 2020, Eddie Vedder took part in the Game Awards, saluting The Last Of Us II by giving a remote acoustic performance of "Future Days." The band's Last Of Us EP includes two versions of "Future Days" -- the original and a live take recorded at Vedder's Ohana Festival last year. Last night's episode of The Last Of Us ended with a reworked version of the band's 1996 song "Present Tense," and that's on the EP, too. So is 2002's "All Or None," which appeared in a previous episode.
The listing for Pearl Jam's Last Of Us EP on the band's website claims that the EP is "music inspired by" the show and the game, but it seems like it's more like the other way around. The vinyl EP is available to members of Pearl Jam's Ten Club, and it's also streaming now. You can hear it below.
The Last Of Us EP is out now on Monkeywrench.
