Lifeguard Ripped and Torn LP

Chicago's Lifeguard release their debut album, Ripped and Torn. The youthful trio of Asher Case, Isaac Lowenstein, and Kai Slater have been making music together since they were in high school, nearly a quarter of their lives. Noisy and immediate, cryptic but heartfelt, they draw inspiration from punk, dub, power-pop and experimental sounds, and bring them all together in explosive inspiration.

Over their two prior summers on Matador, Lifeguard's EPs carefully documented the band's early, earnest, studio explorations. But their tremendous live shows, anchored by Lowenstein's rock-steady backbeat, hinted that something greater was waiting in the wings. On Ripped and Torn, the barbed-wire sound frames Slater and Case's newly rich two-part harmonies and collagiste lyrics. Producer Randy Randall (No Age) captures a claustrophobic scrappiness that conjures the feeling and energy of the house parties and live shows, where ears are easily overwhelmed, and ragged improvisations connect with the same force as melodic hooks.

The band remains a singular and intimate space where freedom, noise, and melody find visceral form. "The physical element is something we're all very together on," explains Slater. "The immediacy of making music. The instant pleasure and satisfaction of it."

Citing left-of-field rockers like Dredd Foole and Television Personalities as some reference points, Lifeguard breathe some welcome new life into the sort of post-punk revivalism we've been hearing a lot of lately.