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At the Black Cat Backstage, Nate Mendel, bassist for bands like the Foo Fighters and Sunny Day Real Estate, stopped by with his brand new side project, Lieutenant. Though the Foos are more hard-driving guitar rock, and Sunny Day Real Estate was more emo, Lieutenant’s music definitely comes from the well of post-punk rather than punk. It’s that melodic indie sound you sometimes hear from the upper Northwest of the U.S., the kind that reaches out from between the quarter notes and catches you with its lush subtlety, rather than screaming and bashing you over the head with a guitar. Paired with Mendel’s soothingly hypnotic voice (he sings lead for the first time), and backed by crack players that include Christian Largo (Fleet Foxes), Jorma Vik (the Bronx), Paul Wilson (Snow Patrol), and producer Toshi Kasai, Lieutenant just sounds gorgeous.
If I Kill This Thing We’re All Going To Eat For a Week is out now.
See photos from the show in the gallery.