Lifeguard Announce Debut Album: Listen to “It Will Get Worse”

The Lifeguard, the Chicago trio of Asher Case, Isaac Lowenstein, and Kai Slater, has announced their long-awaited debut album, Ripped and Torn (due out June 6 via Matador). The release comes on the heels of Slater’s 2024 masterclass Radio DDR, which we named the 24th-best album of the year. Lowenstein’s sibling, Penelope, is also one-third of Horsegirl, who put out a terrific record of their own this year. It’s safe to say that the future of rock music is in good hands. The new vanguard has arrived.

Lifeguard have been together since pre-COVID, when they were teens transforming Chicago’s youth DIY scene. Their two previous EPs, Dressed in Trenches and Crowd Can Talk, quickly established them as torchbearers of the city’s storied musical legacy. Inspired by Television and Dredd Foole, Ripped and Torn is renaissance post-punk with a twist of anthemic, post-Y2K bombast. Lead single “It Will Get Worse” ought to be everyone else’s wake-up moment. Get hip to this band now; the moon is firmly in their sights.

Listen to “It Will Get Worse” and check out the Ripped and Torn artwork and tracklist below.