Before wowing us at SXSW, Lifeguard came up in the same teenage Chicago indie rock scene that yielded Horsegirl, whose Penelope Lowenstein is siblings with Lifeguard drummer Isaac Lowenstein. And like Horsegirl, Lifeguard have signed to the venerable Matador Records, who’ll release Lifeguard’s Crowd Can Talk + Dressed In Trenches this summer. It’s one of those “two EPs that function as one LP” situations, bringing together the band’s previously released Crowd Can Talk project with the all-new Dressed In Trenches. Today we get to hear one of the new songs.

Blustery and discordant yet charged with melody, Dressed In Trenches opener “17-18 Lovesong” will likely appeal to fans of acts like Protomartyr, Preoccupations, and Mission Of Burma — as well as FACS, whose Brian Case is Lifeguard bassist Asher Case’s dad. The rhythms are tight and jarring, the guitar noise piercing yet hooky, the vocals smartly toggling between low . If you didn’t already know it was recorded at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio, the thought definitely would have crossed my mind.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “New Age (I’ve Got A)”
02 “I Know I Know”
03 “Fifty Seven”
04 “Typecast”
05 “17-18 Lovesong”
06 “Alarm”
07 “Ten Canisters (OFB)”
08 “Shutter Shutter”
09 “Tell Me When”

TOUR DATES:
06/09 Los Angeles, CA @ Genghis Cohen
07/06 Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
07/20 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage #
07/21 Philadelphia, PA @ Ukie Club ^
07/22 Asbury Park, NJ @ House of Independents ^
07/23 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^
07/25 Washington, DC @ DC9 ^
07/27 Durham, NC @ The Pinhook ^
07/28 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle ^
07/29 Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records ^
07/30 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade ^
08/01 Birmingham, AL @ Saturn ^
08/02 New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre ^
08/03 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall ^
08/04 McAllen, TX @ The Gremlin ^
08/05 San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^
08/07 Austin, TX @ Parish ^
08/08 Dallas, TX @ Sons of Hermann Hall ^
08/09 Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge ^
08/11 Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck ^
08/13 Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall ^
# w/ Horsegirl, Water From Your Eyes, Iceage
^ w/ Horsegirl

Crowd Can Talk + Dressed In Trenches is out 7/7 on Matador.