Lieutenant

Nate Mendel, bassist for Foo Fighters and Sunny Day Real Estate, channels Lieutenant chiefly as a personal outlet for passionate, melodic modern rock. Seeking space to foreground his songwriting, vocals, and guitar work, he began capturing ideas with Joe Plummer—drummer for The Shins and Modest Mouse—during intervals between Foo Fighters dates. The collaboration matured steadily, leading Mendel to issue Lieutenant’s first album, If I Kill This Thing We’re All Going to Eat for a Week, on Dine Alone Records in 2015. Longtime Melvins associate producer and keyboardist Toshi Kasai produced the set, which also drew performances from fellow Foo Fighter Chris Shiflett, Sunny Day Real Estate’s Jeremy Enigk, Helmet’s Page Hamilton, and The Head and the Heart’s Josiah Johnson.