With their new single "Untrustful," Lifeboats is not the type of band that takes the easy route, yet they do so even more with this release. Clocking in at a gut-wrenching emotional outburst of a song that delves head first into the depths of betrayal and heartbreak, smothered in the lifeboats' trademark post-hardcore madness that they're beginning to become notorious for.
Rage-fuelling and furious, 2022 saw the French hardcore punkies burst out the blocks, making their debut, most unforgettably, playing with Counterparts in Lyon. Since then, the four-piece has consistently carved out a spot by fusing brutality and melody to create something pretty and vicious in sound, a tightrope they expertly walk in "Untrustful."
The guitars slash and pierce with metallic precision, and the percussion is as pounding as an unending storm. But what makes the track hit harder than many others is the emotional gravity it carries. Its speed and aggression, laced with deeply intuitive melodies and anything but superficial, thrash as a state of mind that transcends boredom or image and creativity.
It's not just noise in the service of aggression. There's thought behind each punch and a degree of genuine musicianship that lifts Lifeboats above the crowd. And their use of discordance of melodies that collide and resolve in unexpected places isn't just a stylistic choice. It's a metaphor. Life is dissonant, and "Untrustful" is beautifully discordant.
With this song, as Lifeboats reminds us, hardcore can be about openness as much as volume. It's about looking your inner demons in the face and grappling with them, utilizing music as both weapon and shield. And if "Untrustful" indicates where they're going next, it's clear this band is just now starting to scratch the surface of their capabilities. Lifeboats have arrived to rock the ground beneath your feet, and they don't need your permission.
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