2.5/5 stars
Fans of Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel AKA Lieutenant will say it’s good he’s stepped away from his 20-year alma mater to do something new, but we shouldn’t care; this isn’t a departure or a coming-of-age rite.
Mendel’s a dusty relic of the post-emo era, now a little less dusty. In ‘Belle Epoque’, he channels James Mercer with his verse-end diving-board sighs (they’re sort of wails in his interpretation), and sounds like he’s relieved he gets to stop singing for a bit.
If I Kill This Thing may not be a symbol for a bunch of different cosmic dramas, but it’s certainly a tour of the times rock was up its own arse a bit too much. Mendel’s melodies meander just the way music geeks will like, though. He’s gone for the toughest crowd, those wild ones that sit, hoping and praying for a modulation or key change to relieve some deviant erotic desire.
If you like silent types who seem to regret themselves ontologically, the cutesy aspect of If I Kill This Thing will never wear off and you’ve got a neat thing. If you don’t, you’ll still get a full sense of post-emo dirges that have pretty much nothing to do with Dave Grohl.
Lieutenant’sIf I Kill This Thing We’re All Going To Eat For A Weekis out on Dine Alone Records.
