issue 20 :: September 2011

Review: Trophy Wife

self-titled 7” [Private Leisure Industries]
	The debut release from four unnamed women involved in the art/zine scenes in Murfreesboro, Tennessee features four quite different and engaging art rock pieces. Dame Darcy's 7” with the Coctails sounds like this record's primary inspiration; strange vocals, stripped down drums and guitars whimsically etch out each brief song. “Widows” starts slow, drums plodding, guitar and bass sketching chords, the three building up to a frenzy as ghostly singing turns to wailing. Completely different, “Light Socket” turns the drums clubby, complete with the deep buzz of a synthesizer providing an odd bass line. A wasted voice intones “don't fuck yourself with electronics,” which is maybe good advice to just about any musician.
“Aunt Palatka” opens with smoky clarinet and unorthodox plucked guitars, perhaps in homage to Aunt Palatka's Eastern European origins? Wispy vocals turn into a schoolgirl chorus wailing over a polka. The finale, “In the Water,” presents a dialog between two voices, one intoning “deep in the water” and the other responding “I don't think so.” Percussion and gongs accompany, and like the first song, build into a thumping section with messy guitar, the voices oohing and sighing. I hope the forthcoming LP mentioned in the press release is as interesting, artistic and enjoyable as these four brief songs are.

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