logo
Lifeguard: Ripped and Torn review – this brilliant post-punk racket sounds like a trip to a rivet factory

Lifeguard: Ripped and Torn review – this brilliant post-punk racket sounds like a trip to a rivet factory

The Guardian06-06-2025
After emerging from the Chicago DIY scene five years ago, Lifeguard's long-awaited debut crashes in with loud guitars and drums like a statement of intent. Opening track A Tightwire sets the template for the album: urgent, off-kilter and even slightly disorienting. The youthful trio of Kai Slater (guitar, vocals), Asher Case (bass, baritone guitar, vocals) and Isaac Lowenstein (drums, synth) have played together since high school, which has meant they have a musical understanding and are as tight as the proverbial nut.
Theirs is angular, driving post-punk with audible echoes of the Pop Group, Wire, Gang of Four and the Wedding Present, but they've certainly brought their own spin to it. The songs blaze forth with hurtling, mostly indecipherable imagery. They could be yelling 'I am the spy on your pillow' or 'words like tonality come to me'. What does it all mean? Who knows – but it's fun thinking it through.
There's a real sense of drama to the circular-saw guitars, slow builds and cascading basslines, from which spring effervescent tunes and interesting curveballs. Like You'll Lose is post-punk with a hymnal quality. The weirdly compulsive Music for 3 Drums knowingly references Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, but sounds as if it was recorded during a visit to a rivet-making factory. Some of their most distorted guitars, drones and screeching metal might prove too challenging for many palates, but it's refreshing to hear a young band make such a bold racket.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Exclusive: ESPN will not air Spike Lee's docuseries on Colin Kaepernick, citing 'creative differences'
Exclusive: ESPN will not air Spike Lee's docuseries on Colin Kaepernick, citing 'creative differences'

Reuters

time25 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Exclusive: ESPN will not air Spike Lee's docuseries on Colin Kaepernick, citing 'creative differences'

BEVERLY HILLS, California, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Director Spike Lee's multi-part documentary series for ESPN Films about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a national debate when he protested racial injustice nearly a decade ago, will not be released, the filmmaker and ESPN said. "ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences," ESPN said in a statement to Reuters on Saturday. "Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film." Lee told Reuters on Friday that the series was not going to be released. "It's not coming out. That's all I can say," Lee said on the red carpet ahead of the Harold and Carole Pump Foundation dinner, a fundraiser for cancer research and treatment, in Beverly Hills, California. Asked why, the Oscar-winning director declined to elaborate, citing a nondisclosure agreement. "I can't. I signed a nondisclosure. I can't talk about it." Kaepernick played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016. He ignited a national debate in 2016 when he knelt during the U.S. national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality. The 37-year-old athlete has not played in the NFL since that season. Many experts believed his political activism, which triggered a movement that drew the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump, was the key reason teams were wary of signing him. He later filed a collusion grievance against team owners, which was settled with the league in 2019. A representative for Kaepernick said the player had no comment about the docuseries on Saturday. Production on the series began in 2022, with Walt Disney-owned (DIS.N), opens new tab ESPN touting it as a "full, first-person account" of Kaepernick's journey that would feature extensive interviews with the player. In September, Puck News reported the project faced delays amid disagreements between Kaepernick and Lee over the direction of the film, and that ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro was open to allowing the filmmakers to shop it elsewhere.

Courtney Stodden makes shock claim about Chrissy Teigen four years after cyberbullying scandal erupted
Courtney Stodden makes shock claim about Chrissy Teigen four years after cyberbullying scandal erupted

Daily Mail​

time25 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Courtney Stodden makes shock claim about Chrissy Teigen four years after cyberbullying scandal erupted

Courtney Stodden has claimed she sent a friendly message to Chrissy Teigen only to be 'completely ignored,' four years after their cyberbullying scandal erupted. Back in 2011, Courtney shot to notoriety after her acting coach Doug Hutchison married her when she was just 16 years old and he was 50. Chrissy, 39, brutally trolled the teenager online in her early days of fame, tweeting for example that her 'fantasy' was for Courtney to take a 'dirt nap.' In 2021, fans dredged up some of Chrissy's old tweets and furiously denounced her for her viciousness towards Courtney - who publicly claimed that when she was still underage, she had gotten private messages from Chrissy urging her to kill herself. The controversy torpedoed Chrissy's then stratospheric career, but in the intervening years she has been gingerly navigating a return to the spotlight, most recently with an appearance on Meghan Markle 's cooking show With Love, Meghan. When the series was hit with backlash for having Chrissy on, Courtney defended her publicly and - she says - sent her a supportive message that was met with silence. Daily Mail has contacted Chrissy's representatives for comment. Courtney, who left Doug in 2020 and has since described him as a 'groomer,' made her claim about Chrissy on Instagram this Friday. 'I have been getting a lot of people asking me how I feel about Meghan Markle having Chrissy Teigen on Love, Meghan, her new cooking show,' she said. 'And my response to it is that I do not believe people should be bullying Chrissy. Have we learned anything? Two wrongs do not make a right,' Courtney argued. 'I posted about this, and I saw Chrissy Teigen was on my Instagram watching my Story, so I decided to reach out to Chrissy on DM and tell her that I'm here if she needs to talk and I do not believe people should be bullying her and she shouldn't be listening to anyone who's bullying her.' Courtney then alleged that Chrissy 'has completely ignored me,' offering a tart smile to the camera before concluding with a pointed: 'Yeah.' Earlier this year, Courtney shared that she drafted a suicide note after being deluged with scathing comments from social media trolls, particularly Chrissy. In 2012, Chrissy had responded to one of Courtney's posts by writing: 'I hate you,' and in 2011 the wife of John Legend had tweeted: '.@CourtneyStodden my Friday fantasy: you. dirt nap. mmmmmm baby.' 'Saying this to a child when you're the queen of Twitter... it was so much,' Courtney said in the ABC News documentary IMPACT x Nightline: Confessions of a Child Bride. 'I had a suicide letter written. I remember my last thought was: "Maybe I don't deserve to be here when people that high up are telling me I don't deserve to be."' Though the tweets were from nearly a decade prior, the blowback against Chrissy only gathered steam in 2021, intensified by an interview Courtney gave that May. 'She wouldn't just publicly tweet about wanting me to take "a dirt nap" but would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself,' Courtney alleged to the Daily Beast. 'Things like: "I can't wait for you to die."' As the online anger against Chrissy reached a fever pitch, she issued a public apology to Courtney and also claimed to have expressed her contrition in private. 'I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behavior but that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel,' Chrissy tweeted. 'I have tried to connect with Courtney privately but since I publicly fueled all this, I want to also publicly apologize. I'm so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am.' Although Courtney publicly stated that she accepted Chrissy's apology, she denied hearing from the Bring the Funny star in private. Chrissy's A-list position in Hollywood went up in flames, and she has since described herself as being a member of what she called 'cancel club.'

ESPN host makes humiliating error that Dave Portnoy brands 'next level stupid'
ESPN host makes humiliating error that Dave Portnoy brands 'next level stupid'

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

ESPN host makes humiliating error that Dave Portnoy brands 'next level stupid'

ESPN host Monica McNutt made a humiliating mistake while live on air that Dave Portnoy has branded 'next level stupid'. During Friday's episode of 'First Take', Stephen A. Smith and McNutt welcomed comedian and actor Druski onto the show, who was wearing the jersey of Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders. But, during a painfully awkward exchange, McNutt claimed he was actually wearing the jersey of Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders. The Browns' jerseys are typically orange, brown and white whereas the Lions are typically blue or white. McNutt, who is usually a basketball analyst, said to Druski: 'The jersey. Let's get into it because this obviously ties to one Shedeur Sanders.' Druski, awkwardly, then replied: 'No, no no. This is Barry Sanders.' McNutt instantly apologized for the mistake, while Smith did seem to be aware that is was Barry Sanders who Druski was supporting. Portnoy took to X on Saturday to comment on the incident, writing: 'This is next level stupid here'. Earlier this year, McNutt was accused of playing into 'racial hysteria' with a controversial theory on the popularity of WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark. Asked by BBC 's Katty Kay to explain the reason behind Clark's widespread acceptance, McNutt pointed to Clark's race and her midwestern roots. 'Caitlin represented, and again, some of this to me probably is not fair to her, because it was not anything that she said or was truly based on her personality, but she was a white girl from the middle of America,' McNutt said. 'And so she represented a whole lot to a lot of people, whether that is truly what she prescribed to or not.' Clark's race has remained a constant source of controversy on both sides of the political aisle, from conservatives who see her as the target of supposedly jealous African-American rivals, to liberals who think she's unfairly pulling the spotlight away from the league's black stars. Bobby Burack, a writer for Fox-owned responded by calling McNutt a 'fool,' while also targeting her fellow ESPN hosts. There was also outrage on social media. 'Is she an idiot (like Kendrick Perkins)?' Burack asked. 'Does she actually believe the manufactured racial hysteria (like Ryan Clark)? Or is she just gifting, knowing the upside of race-grifting as a black woman at ESPN (like Elle Duncan)? Hard to say.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store