Lifeguards find Robert Pollard (Guided by Voices) and Doug Gillard (Death by Samantha, Cobra Verde), two notable figures from the Midwest indie rock community, joining forces to create tuneful but powerful rock & roll. In 1999, Gillard collaborated with Pollard to make the duo album Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department, and in 2003 Pollard and Gillard formed Lifeguards as a side project, recording the album Mist King Urth, which was released through Pollard's Fading Captain label. In 2010, Gillard contributed to Our Cubehouse Still Rocks, the fourth album from Pollard's project Boston Spaceships, and later the same year they revived the Lifeguards moniker for another collaborative album, Waving at the Astronauts, which was released in February 2011. ~ Mark Deming