Lieutenant Drops Strong Debut

Casey Hudacko ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

After decades of working as the lead guitarist in the Foo Fighters, Nate Mendel has set sail in a solo career in his newly formed band Lieutenant.  The band’s first album, titled If I Kill This Thing We’re All Going to Eat for a Week, debuted on iTunes this month through Dine Alone Records.

The album opens with “Belle Epoque” that has a strong bass line with accompaniment from both electric and acoustic guitar.  The best way to describe Nate Mendel’s voice would be mesmerizing.  His soft and whispery voice is a nice compliment to the strong presence of strings.  The melody swings back and forth and as soon as the song is over, you’ll be humming the melody without even noticing you’re doing it.

The third track on the album “Believe the Squalor” is an interesting crossover of Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan’s sounds.  That might sound like a strange combination of sounds, but Mendel ties it together really well and creates and smooth jam that you can slowly bob your head to.

One of the more interesting songs on the album is “Prepared Remarks” that starts out with a slow piano solo that is simple yet angelic.  Then the heavy guitar part comes in abruptly along with cowbell that makes it one of the more upbeat songs on the album.  The guitar line is simple but the percussion really keeps the song moving along with a foot-tapping rhythm.

Finishing off the album strong, the last track is titled “Lift the Sheet” which starts off with a simple rhythm brought in by what sounds like sand paper scratching.  The vocals are entrancing in a very Pink Floyd fashion with two vocal tracks that seem to echo each other.  The guitar effects make it very slow but hypnotizing, sounding a bit like the slow effects used by Jimmy Paige.  The use of sound effects put in during post production add so many dimensions to the song that there is always something new to be heard every time you listen to it.

If you’re a fan of the Foo Fighters, or just a fan of rock in general, definitely check this album out.  Nate Mendel is a veteran to the rock scene and in “If I Kill This Thing We’re All Going to Eat for a Week,” he shows that he knows what he’s doing.