Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Trophy Wife—the Brooklyn rock band composed of McKenzie Lazzetta, Christian Pace, and Michael Martelli—first sprouted in the DIY basement scene of Berklee College of Music in Boston. Ever since then, they’ve been watering their sonic garden, creating a sharp collection of fuzzy, ’90s-inspired indie rock that stands out for its grunge influence and darkly haunting vocals.
A year after their debut album Get Ugly, an album that only further saw the band finessing their take on the raw post-punk noise of assertive melodies and biting lyricism, the trio is back with single “So Hard.” Akin to the likes of a mashup between Wednesday and Blondshell, the track is an alt-rock western romp that throws one back to the daze of thrifted slip dresses and worn-in boots and headlining acts of Portland’s Room 9 house. The dressed-down grittiness of its sound is only amplified by its inspiration, which lead vocalist Lazetta describes as: “wishing things could be as simple as they are in your head, and the bargaining you’re willing to do to get what you want. Is all the compromise worth the crumb of the fantasy you’re left with?” It’s the perfect song to listen to on a late-night drive to calm your irritable mind or in a sticky bar, crowded into a booth with your friends on a weekend that needed the heavy hum of Trophy Wife’s sound.
I was able to speak with the band about “Too Hard,” how it feels to be releasing new music after almost a year, and the single’s music video; read that below.
How does it feel coming back with your first single after your record Get Ugly debuted last year? Any specific feelings accompanying this release?
It feels really exciting! There are so many new people listening to our music since releasing Get Ugly and we’re so lucky we get to put out “So Hard” to so many new ears.
Tell me a bit about the inspiration of “So Hard.” Even if it’s just sonically, what did you take influence from the most going into the creation of the track?
We always have our own little inspirations when we record which is what I think makes us sound like Trophy Wife. Christian was super into The Rolling Stones at the time and kept asking himself, “What would Keith Richards do if he was a bass player and also somehow liked Dinosaur Jr.?” Michael was feeling a Blink-182 meets Lilith Fair kind of thing, and I was really inspired by Tori Amos’s vocals, especially on “Precious Things,” which I had on repeat.
Is the darker, alt-rock western twang of this single a preview of what we can expect to come going into Trophy Wife’s next era?
Sort of! I think a lot of the work we’ve done since Get Ugly has been us focusing on becoming more intentional and self-assured songwriters. I grew up on a lot of country music and ’90s angry ladies so I think it’s easy for us to merge the two.
The music video for “So Hard” feels like a hazy, ’90s grunge dream. Where did you guys end up filming that day? And was it actually filmed on a point and shoot camera?
We filmed half in a big nature preserve in Pennsylvania and half in the director Jo’s friend’s bedroom! It was actually filmed on a Super 8 camera which was really cool to work with.
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Hope Ankney | @heart_vandelay
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