Crowd Can Talk/Dressed in Trenches

これぞUSオルタナ最前線!!
シカゴ・インディの新星ライフガードが〈Matador〉より爆音デビュー!!

ホースガールに続くシカゴ・インディのブライテスト・ホープ、ライフガードが名門〈Matador〉よりデビューEP「Dressed in Trenches」をリリース!!
スティーヴ・アルビニ所有のElectrical Audioでレコーディングされた本作は、リフューズドやアット・ザ・ドライヴ・イン、ブラック・ミディ登場時を彷彿とさせるカオティックでラウドな先行シングル「17-18 Lovesong」を含む未発表5曲を収録。
さらに、今作のCD/LPには古巣レーベル〈Born Yesterday〉から配信とカセットテープのみでリリースされていた4曲入りEP作品「Crowd Can Talk」をカップリング。
2019年の結成以来、急成長を続ける大注目トリオのあまりにも鮮烈なUSギター・ロック最前線!!

2023s Crowd Can Talk/Dressed in Trenches is the first release from Chicago trio Lifeguard thats gotten much traction outside their hometown or among noise rock obsessives, though you might not guess that to hear it. This collection of two EPs -- one previously released, one not -- is taut, hard-hitting, and overflowing with jagged guitars, thick and nimble basslines, and hard, brilliantly punctuated rhythms. It sounds like the work of a band who have spent many years striving to sound this ferocious. The precision and confidence of the music is a marvel in and of itself, and the fury of Kai Slaters guitar work should impress anyone who enjoys hearing an instrument let out an eloquent howl. While some of Slaters guitar tricks suggest he was weaned on classic-era Sonic Youth, and bassist Asher Case and drummer Isaac Lowensteins unrelenting rhythmic attack is straight out of the playbook of their Chicago forebearers the Jesus Lizard, Lifeguard have absorbed their influences and made them into something that feels their own. The chaotic wisdom of their musical ideas and the rigor of their technique make for a one-two punch thats devastating. Crowd Can Talk/Dressed in Trenches isnt the most tuneful music youll encounter this year, but "Fifty Seven" shows they know how to come up with a melody when circumstances demand it, and theres a brutal but genuine musicality here that shines through even when these songs are exploding like a brick of firecrackers. As Lifeguards first major salvo, Crowd Can Talk/Dressed in Trenches is a superb statement of purpose and demonstration of strength, and anyone who still believes in the possibilities of the electric guitar needs it in their life. ~ Mark Deming