Trophy Wife (American band)

Trophy Wife is an American punk and post-hardcore band based in Philadelphia< Pennsylvania. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., in 2009, members include Diane Foglizzo on guitar and Katy Otto on drums, with both Foglizzo and Otto singing. They tour frequently,[2] and many of their shows double as benefits for non-profit organizations. They have released three full albums: Patience Fury (2010), Sing What Scares You (2012), and All the Sides (2014).[2]

Trophy Wife
Background information
OriginWashington D.C., United States
GenresPost-hardcore, punk, grunge
Years active2009 (2009)–present
LabelsMeet Your Adversary Records, 307 Knox Records, Exotic Fever Records
Associated actsBald Rapunzel, Del Cielo, Homage to Catalonia, Problems, Helsinki[1]
WebsiteTrophy Wife on Blogspot
Members
  • Diane Foglizzo
  • Katy Otto

History

Founding

Before co-founding the band in 2009, members Otto and Foglizzo were both involved in the punk music scene of Washington, D.C.[1] Otto was a co-founder of Exotic Fever Records, and drummed in a number of underground rock bands.[1] Foglizzo had become interested in punk while living in Washington, D.C., and was involved with programs such as Girls Rock![3]

Foglizzo (left) and Otto (right)

Otto and Foglizzo met while both working[4] on the punk music zine Give Me Back, founded in the wake of the zine HeartattaCk, and in a similar style.[3] Otto asked Foglizzo to play music together,[5] and they started writing songs.[6] At the time, both women were avid fans of the post-hardcore bands Lungfish and Karp, and later the sludge metal band Big Business. They were also fans of French band La Fraction.[7]

They founded Trophy Wife in 2009.[4] The name Trophy Wife, according to Otto, was originally chosen because she thought it was "a hilarious, snarky band name for two female socialized people to have."[6] The name gradually gained a more complex interpretation, with Otto later stating, "The name Trophy Wife basically for me was a smirk at the concept in general of women in a detached, object role. I want a world of women and girls as subjects. And subjecthood, with all its painful trappings, pitfalls, and machinations, is exactly why we do this band."[1]

Their first show was at the Black Cat venue with punk bands The Shondes and Bellafea.[7] In 2009 they released a tape on Exotic Fever. Otto left D.C. in 2010 and moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Foglizzo left D.C. in 2010 as well.[3] They continued to tour and produce new songs.[2]

Patience Fury (2010)

Their first full-length album, Patience Fury, was recorded with their mutual friend Devin Ocampo (of bands Faraquet and Smart Went Crazy).[1] The album was released in 2010 on 307 Knox Records in Durham, North Carolina.[7]

Sadie Magazine said Patience Fury "is challenging and experimental: the record...doesn’t fit neatly into descriptions or genres." Despite not defining the band's genre, the review compared individual tracks to rock bands such as Fugazi, The Breeders, and Braid. Unlike their first EP, both Otto and Foglizzo's singing voices can be heard clearly on the album, either shouting or sustaining melody and harmony.[8] The lyrics address a number of diverse topics, with the song "Sister Outsider" an homage to activist and writer Audre Lorde.[8] They toured in support of the album.

Sing What Scares You (2012)

During much of the writing for their second album, Sing What Scares You, the two lived in different cities.[9] They later reunited in Philadelphia.[9]

"The songs’ emotional intensity and thought-provoking bite are sharpened by the fact that you can understand almost every word [Foglizzo] is singing...Trophy Wife's music aims to present life and relationships with a refreshing and uncompromising sense of realism."
— Washington City Paper [10]

In July 2012 the band released the nine-track album Sing What Scares You on 307 Knox Records and Meet Your Adversary Records.[9] Reception was generally positive. A review in the Washington City Paper said, "Their pummeling, cathartic, holler-along songs are full of time changes, rhythmically staggered harmonies, and other moving parts set off by subtle cues."[10] Thematically, many of the songs are about the relationships and distances between people.[9]

The band promoted the album[9] with a number of shows on the East Coast, and by January 2013 they had also toured the Midwest, the South, and the West Coast. The Washington City Paper said of their performances, "When they're locked in a groove, the communication is seamless: The energy that pulses in the four or so feet between them feels so tangible and electric, it's almost like a third instrument."[10]

All the Sides (2014) and touring

The duo played 11 shows in January 2014 alone on a tour of the South,[2] and in early February they performed a Key Studio Session at WXPN 88.5.[4] Shortly afterwards they opened for the Sub Pop noise rock band Pissed Jeans at Union Transfer in Philadelphia.[11]

In February 2014 they went into the studio to begin recording their third album, All the Sides,[2] which was recorded and mixed by BJ Howze at Red Planet studios.[12] The duo released the album on December 9, 2014. It was made available on CD and vinyl by SRA Records,[13] as well as through Tank Records on cassette tape.[12]

About the album's tone, Foglizzo has stated in an interview that "There's not really anger or sadness. [It's] maybe contemplative. And it feels like there's space — musical, creative, physical, emotional space — which is why we [will call] it All the Sides."[2] Tom Tom Magazine wrote that the album "begins with a chamber rock chorale of 'no warning' in 'Breakdown' along with structured metallic clangs and minor key orchestration reminiscent of Fugazi era discordance... Heavily instrumental, the eight songs master complicated and deliberate time sequences, crashing in hard after operatic pauses."[14] Wrote the Cabildo Quarterly, "This Philly two-piece painstakingly crafts their mini-epics of bombast and nuance, and they do it by (get this) listening to each other."[15]

Body Camera/Where is North digital ep (2015)

In 2015, the duo released two songs in a digital only format – "Body Camera" and "Where is North" – recorded and mixed by Dan Morse and mastered by Devin Ocampo. WXPN 88.5 wrote of the release that it was "filled with expressive guitar-drum compositions and meditative vocals."[16] The band noted that "Body Camera" was written in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of Eric Garner.[17]

The EP was the recommended release of the week at Radio Static Philly, which praised how the "EP allows the songs to grow and breath."[18] The Deli Magazine wrote that "Body Camera" "stirs in a grey-clouded melodic anticipation with vocal harmony easing the heart rate," while "Where is North” "is a measure of controlled restraint, momentarily demonstrating turbulent potential with a steady hand."[19]

Style
"[Foglizzo and I] have intense, and sometimes jarring, important conversations to try to make sense of the world. We write lyrics together, in practice – no matter how long it takes – and describe the reasons why we opted to write lyrics to each other." — Katy Otto (2010)[1]

The band's style encompasses a number of genres, notably post-hardcore and punk, and has changed somewhat between albums. According to WXPN 88.5 in 2014, "There are hints of metal, prog, noise and experimental music in their blend, and the dynamic sounds they create [are] perfect for underscoring thought-provoking lyrical topics."[4]

They write the music and lyrics as a duo, with diverse topics.[6] About their first album, Sadie Magazine wrote, "They share personal stories with political ramifications and engage the audience in the conversation."[8] While lyrics periodically address feminist issues, the band does not associate itself with a gendered subgenre.[20] Some lyrics are written in French and German, reflecting their respective ancestry.[1]

Members

Discography

Albums
Year Album title Release details
2010 Patience Fury
  • Released: July 22, 2010
  • Label: 307 Knox Records
  • Format: Vinyl, CD, digital
2012 Sing What Scares You
  • Released: June 1, 2012
  • Label: 307 Knox/Meet Your Adversary
  • Format: Vinyl, CD, digital
2014 All the Sides
  • Released: Dec 9, 2014
  • Label: Dead Tank Records/SRA Records
  • Format: Vinyl, CD, digital, tape

EPs
Year EP title Release details
2009 Trophy Wife S/T
2015 Body Camera/Where is North EP
  • Released: Sept 7, 2015
  • Label: Meet Your Adversary Records
  • Format: Digital download

Singles
Year Title Album Release details
2012 "Identifiers" Sing What Scares You307 Knox (June 1, 2012)
2014 "Breakdown" All The SidesSRA Records (May 28, 2014)
2015 "Body Camera" Body Camera/Where is North EPMeet Your Adversary (Sept 7, 2015)
"Where is North" Meet Your Adversary (Sept 7, 2015)

Compilations
  • 2009: Gimme Cooties - two live tracks[8]

References
  1. "Katy Otto On Women As Objects and Her Band Trophy Wife". Tom Tom Magazine. July 18, 2010. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  2. Reso, Paulina (February 20, 2014). "Behind the scenes with Trophy Wife, Philly's fiercest, funnest punk duo". Philadelphia Citypaper. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  3. Speck, Rachel (January 2014). "Surviving and Thriving with Trophy Wife". Antigravity Magazine. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  4. "The Key Studio Sessions: Trophy Wife". WXPN 88.5. February 5, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  5. Shodin, R. Stephen (March 16, 2012). "Band Booking: Trophy Wife". Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  6. Campbell, Madeleine (March 7, 2014). "Katy Otto of Trophy Wife". Tom Tom Magazine. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  7. Paschall, Valerie (April 27, 2012). "DCist Interview: Trophy Wife". DCist. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  8. Wadkins, Kate. "Trophy Wife: Patience Fury". Sadie Magazine. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  9. Stefchack, Cara (October 3, 2012). "Trophy Wife: Singing What Scares Them". Jump: The Philly Music Project. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  10. Zoladz, Linsday (July 3, 2012). "Trophy Wife's Sing What Scares You, Reviewed". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  11. Vettesse, John (February 10, 2014). "Photos: Pissed Jeans, Purling Hiss and Trophy Wife at Union Transfer". WXPN 88.5. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
  12. "Trophy Wife". Dead Tank Records. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  13. "All the Sides". SRA Records. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
  14. "Trophy Wife smash conventions in All the Sides". Tom Tom Magazine. September 24, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
  15. Fournier, Michael T. "Trophy Wife: All The Sides". Cabildo Quarterly. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
  16. Vettese, John (September 12, 2015). "Trophy Wife Body Camera ep". Cabildo Quarterly. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  17. "Body Camera/Where is North ep". Bandcamp. Sep 7, 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  18. "RADIO STATIC PHILLY'S RECOMMENDED RELEASE OF THE WEEK: Trophy Wife "Body Camera/Where Is North EP"". Radio Static Philly. 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  19. "New Trophy Wife EP". The Deli Magazine. 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  20. Zoladz, Lindsay (November 16, 2011). "Not Every Girl Is a Riot Grrrl". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2014-03-21.
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