Richie James Follin and Loren Humphrey of The Willowz formed Guards during a touring break in 2010. It's been six years since their 2013 debut album In Guards We Trust, but this Spring they returned with the full-length Modern Hymns. The album was produced by Follin himself, and mixed at The Notch in Los Angeles by Sean O'Brien. A slew of special guests make appearances, including Mike Shuman (Queens of the Stone Age), Money Mark (Beastie Boys), Patrick Keeler (Raconteurs, Greenhornes), Benji Lysaght (Father John Misty, Beck), James Richardson (MGMT), Matt Schaeffer (Kendrick Lamar), and Brian Oblivion (Cults).
In an interview with Glide Magazine, Follin shared more on today's featured track:
“Musically, we based everything around the quirky arpeggio rhythm. We normally go heavy on the guitars, but we tried to change it up on this one and replaced the rhythm guitars with a synthesizer Joy Division made famous called the Arp Omni. It’s more dance-heavy than our previous songs thanks to a heavy dose of cowbell. Lyrically, the song pulls inspiration from Lennon’s “I know what it’s like to be dead” line, but we flipped the concept to explore what it is like to have lived. It’s the first song we finished where we knew it was perfect for the album and just left it alone after we recorded it.”
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