Review Summary: To Be Expected.
Nate Mendel has never really had much of a name outside of hip inner circles, with his contributions to trailblazers Sunny Day Real Estate and Foo Fighters somewhat unsung in commercial circles. Thinly veiled solo monicker Lieutenant seeks an identity for Mendel but creates little more than a pseudonym; this is essentially what you would expect from the guy who plays bass in Foo Fighters. Mendel doesn't do a horrendous job of performing, but his lack of X factor leaves downtrodden pop gems like "Rattled" and "Belle Époque" to become a bit vanilla. It's unassuming music that more often than not falls somewhere in between "Best of You" or
Diary, doing little to define itself in an already overcrowded scene. In fact much of
If I Kill this Thing We're All Going to Eat for a Week ends up far too symptomatic of a wallflower chiming in, with dry musings and airy indie rock held together by guest appearances from Joe Plummer and Page Hamilton. Particular attention should be paid towards "Some Remove", where Mendel's performance becomes so sheepishly muted that he sojourns out of effortless to bored. It's not always interesting but it's never offensive enough to be bad; if you're mad about Foo Fighters, this isn't a bad curiosity.
