NME’s newest stars of The Cowl, Lifeguard, have created an unique playlist to accompany the story’s launch – test it out beneath.
The Chicago indie-rock band are on this week’s (April 6) version of The Cowl, a manifestation of NME’s dedication to supporting rising expertise throughout the globe on a weekly foundation. Each week, a rising artist will characteristic on The Cowl – you’ll be able to learn Lifeguard’s profile right here, written by Huw Baines and that includes images by Atiba Jefferson.
Alongside The Cowl, Lifeguard have curated a playlist that includes music titles that rhyme with their band identify. ‘Rhymes With Lifeguard’ options tracks by the likes of Lou Reed, SOPHIE, Brigitte Fontaine, Pulp and extra. Hearken to the complete playlist on Spotify beneath and on Apple Music.
Lifeguard’s Cowl story arrives shortly after the discharge of their maxi-single ‘Extremely Violence’/‘Urge for food’ – an 11-song, 12-minute undertaking they are saying confounded their label, Matador Information. “Once we despatched it to the label, we obtained the precise response we needed: ‘That is going to do very poorly – the algorithm’s actually going to dislike this,’” Kai Slater says. “Then they mentioned: ‘How are we going to playlist this? It’s complicated, nobody is aware of what a maxi single is, and these songs are 11 seconds lengthy, in order that they received’t even monitor on any databases.’ And we have been like, ‘You learn our thoughts.’ We hate that algorithm. We hate all of these guidelines.”
A concentrate on bodily media, neighborhood and collaboration is a throughline within the band’s journey and look on The Cowl, with the trio discussing the scene of their hometown of Chicago and the significance of sharing artwork exterior of the algorithm. “I actually like the concept of going beneath any social media or digital data,” says Slater, who additionally runs the zine Hallogallo. “I believe zines are by no means going to lose that; they’re solely going to get extra important within the [current] panorama of America. You’ll be able to see all of it beginning to go down the drain by way of censorship and the maintain it has on expression.”
Learn Lifeguard’s full Cowl story right here and discover out who else has been on The Cowl right here.
Yearly, NME produces 50 Cowl tales, showcasing the way forward for music by way of in-depth profiles and unique photoshoots. Take a look at our espresso desk ebook NME The Cowl 2024-2025, which options the likes of Kneecap, Lola Younger, Amaarae, LE SSERAFIM, Oklou and plenty of extra.
