With members hailing from the U.S. and England, rock group L.I.F.T. delivers a genre-blurring blend of emo-punk and rap that melds the worlds of acts like nothing, nowhere., Twenty One Pilots, and Brockhampton. Based out of San Diego, California, the band actually started out in the U.K., where frontman Austin Arthur hooked up with drummer Jamaal Smith and guitarist Robert Carter. Intending to combine a live band feel with a hip-hop aesthetic, they eventually returned to the States where they were joined by Arthur's childhood friends, guitarist Reuben Pearl and bassist Holden Prine (the band's early lineup also included Daimon Black, who handled "electronics"). In 2017, they released the single "Dead Kids" and were quickly signed to Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's label, DCD2, by Spencer Smith of Panic! At the Disco. Backed by Wentz and Smith, L.I.F.T. ("Love In Future Times") issued the singles "Cassette Tapes" and "Locked Up" in 2018, just as they joined Fall Out Boy on their MANIA tour. ~ Neil Z. Yeung