From Minneapolis, Minnesota, In Lieu deals in bite-sized anthems, mixing the austerity and belligerence of noise rock with the soaring tunefulness of grunge. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Nikii Post, the quartet crafts brief bangers out of sludgy and discordant guitars, pummeling drums, and spellbinding vocals. Post fully captivates with her desperate, throaty screams, occasionally revealing the radiant singing voice that lies behind it. At just 1:22 in length, first single "Godfucker" is a short, sharp burst of feeling, like a wave swelling out of nowhere and crashing on a hapless beach. It is no exception: the majority of the songs on Hooligan clock in at under two minutes each.
Many bands sound like they are playing a bunch of songs they wrote and rehearsed; a select few emit something so natural and confident and cohesive and convincing, it hits more like pure communication than like songcraft. In these rare cases, the band is one united force and the music is a matter of life or death. On Hooligan, as captured by engineer Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recording (Thou, Primitive Man), In Lieu presents itself as precisely this type of band.
"We tend to lean into our most primal feelings and our music tends to remind me of an animal backed into a corner and the only option left is to bite," says Post. Interestingly, In Lieu began as something else entirely. A gradual evolution of style, from quiet to loud, has brought Post to where she is today. "I started the band nine years ago and wrote all the material but was never happy with a release until this new one," she states. "Hooligan is the first album I've been proud of and it took nine years of trying. I played acoustic at first but I always knew that quiet music wasn't going to cut it for me. Eventually, the Melvins album Houdini made me want to play the way I do now."
"Our main influences are Melvins, Soundgarden, and a lot of the Amphetamine Reptile bands like Cows, Jawbox, Unsane, and The Jesus Lizard," she reveals. "We've been at Caterwaul [the annual Minneapolis festival co-founded by Learning Curve Records boss Rainer Fronz] every year, watching these bands and have played the last two years of the fest, completely awestruck by bands like Chat Pile and Whores."
It took nine years of searching and reinvention for Post to find her sound and, now that she has found it, In Lieu is thriving. Twin Cities music authority Racket named the quartet as one of its "Poised to Pop" bands for 2025 and the band has become a regular name on significant shows around town – in addition to Caterwaul, recent bills include legends such as Scream, Soulside, and God Bullies.
Along with the music, the lyrics have evolved. "We were never politically oriented before, but we figured an album this loud better have something to say," quips Post. "Hooligan is an album about abusing power. Love, drugs, religion, authority figures of various kinds... We consider these songs to be 'fight songs' against those powers."
Tracklist:
1) Petz
2) Godfucker
3) Hooligan
4) Mule
5) Hail Mary
6) Christian Singles
7) Bully 8) Gremlin
9) Torrent
10) Traitor
Lineup: Nikii Post - vocals, guitar Kyle Adams - guitar Sam Claeys - bass Mano Holgin - drums
