Lieutenant is the first solo release from Nate Mendel, better known as the bassist for Foo Fighters and a founding member of both Sunny Day Real Estate and The Fire Theft. With this release, Mendel ventures into uncharted territory – he is the primary songwriter, arranger, guitarist and singer for the quintet. After two decades of honing his technique on bass, Mendel was determined to add this new role of front man to his resume.
Mendel entered the studio in August of 2012 with demos of arrangements and melodies for each of the songs. With the help of drummer Joe Plummer (The Shins, Modest Mouse) the two laid down the backbone of the record, tweaking the tracks as they went along. Producer/engineer Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Helmet) helped further refine the tracks.
During the recording, Mendel and Kasai hosted a slew of guest musicians including guitarist Page Hamilton (Helmet) and Josiah Johnson (The Head and The Hear...
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Lieutenant is the first solo release from Nate Mendel, better known as the bassist for Foo Fighters and a founding member of both Sunny Day Real Estate and The Fire Theft. With this release, Mendel ventures into uncharted territory – he is the primary songwriter, arranger, guitarist and singer for the quintet. After two decades of honing his technique on bass, Mendel was determined to add this new role of front man to his resume.
Mendel entered the studio in August of 2012 with demos of arrangements and melodies for each of the songs. With the help of drummer Joe Plummer (The Shins, Modest Mouse) the two laid down the backbone of the record, tweaking the tracks as they went along. Producer/engineer Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Helmet) helped further refine the tracks.
During the recording, Mendel and Kasai hosted a slew of guest musicians including guitarist Page Hamilton (Helmet) and Josiah Johnson (The Head and The Heart) who appear on “Believe The Squalor”. Vocalist Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate) and Foo Fighter guitarist Chris Shiflett contribute to “The Place You Wanna Go.”
On “If I Kill This Thing We’re All Going To Eat For A Week”, Mendel and band draw listeners in with nuanced melodies and lyrics layered over jangly, reverb laden guitars on standout tracks like “Rattled,” “Prepared Remarks” and “Belle Epoque.”
Lieutenant recently made its live debut with a string of warm up shows in Southern California, and will begin their US tour with performances at Austin’s SXSW Music Conference in March. The current tour lineup features Mendel on guitar and vocals along with Christian Wargo (Fleet Foxes) on bass, Paul “Pablo” Wilson (Snow Patrol) on guitar, Jesse Wood on drums and Toshi Kasai on keys.
Look for “If I Kill This Thing We’re All Going To Eat For A Week” available March 10, 2015 on Dine Alone Records.
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