Letlive

Emerging from Los Angeles in 2002, the post-hardcore five-piece Letlive cultivated a frantic, propulsive style that merged At the Drive-In’s technical intensity with a more immediate, emotionally charged approach. Their first full-length, Exhaustion, Saltwater, and Everything in Between, appeared on At One Records in 2004. The following year brought Speak Like You Talk, and the group continued to accumulate experience amid frequent personnel shifts. By 2009 the lineup had stabilized around vocalist Jason Aalon Butler—the sole remaining original member—alongside guitarists Jean Nascimento and Jeff Sahyoun, drummer Anthony Rivera, and bassist Ryan Jay Johnson. That same year the band joined Tragic Hero Records, which issued their third album, Fake History, in 2010. Shortly thereafter Epitaph acquired the group and re-released Fake History in 2011 with additional tracks. The record marked a turning point within underground circles, expanding their following largely through increasingly volatile performances. In 2013 they delivered their fourth album, The Blackest Beautiful. Drawing fresh impetus from the contemporary American political climate, the musicians reconvened with producer Justyn Pilbrow to shape their fifth effort, the pointedly left-leaning If I’m the Devil… Released in June 2016, the album represented the moment the band felt they had finally crystallized their signature sound.