Louisville, Kentucky's TROPHY WIVES was conceived in the summer of 2007. Vocalist/guitarist Billy Bisig (Elliott, Lords) and bassist Tony Ash (Coliseum, Nixon), frustrated with the demise and/or inactivity of their former projects, began writing and demoing songs in their cramped warehouse practice space over a particularly miserable and balmy Kentucky summer. Within a few short months, having woodshedded a good amount of material, drummer Geoff Paton (Young Widows, Breather Resist) was enlisted, and the newfound trio set about forging a pummeling yet distinctly melodic style, drawing upon influences all across the musical spectrum to create their feedback-drenched, beer-soaked wall of sound, a potent combination of Bisig's strained, raspy vocals seducing and drawing you in even as his chainsaw-like jet engine guitars threaten to burst your eardrums, Ash's gnarled, growling bass simultaneously slicing and weaving through the songs like a knife while laying a rock solid rhythmic foundation, and Paton's relentless and surgically precise beating and thrashing of the drums, causing one to inevitably and invariably move their body to the beat, even as they search for shelter from the assault.
With invaluable support from Shawn Severs' Louisville Lip Records, TROPHY WIVES released their first recorded effort, a self titled 4-song EP, at a July 5, 2008 show held at 6th and Oak in Old Louisville featuring Rude Weirdo and Boxmaker (a show during which, infamously, the band literally "brought the house down," with ceiling fragments falling onto the heads of unsuspecting audience members). Limited to a mere 100 copies, this CD was given away at the door with admission, and quickly disappeared into the annals of history. These four fledgling songs, recorded with engineer and friend Tom Curtis at Headfirst Media only a few months into the trio's existence, can be found on this page.
In the fall of 2008, TROPHY WIVES again released more music. This time, the song in question was an inspired cover of "It Ain't Easy," from David Bowie's epic "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" album. Not merely content to duplicate the version heard on Bowie's record, the band, with invaluable assistance from Stephen George, Cheyenne Mize, and Nick Bisig (who occasionally join the band for live performances as well), emphasized the soft/loud dynamic prevalent on the original, only to delve headfirst into an over the top, fuzzed-out, Zeppelin-worthy outro as the song draws to its climax, capped off by a saintly chorus of "It's that easy to get to heaven when you're fuckin' buad." Words of wisdom. The song is featured on the compilation "TRAFOZSATSFM," released by John King of "Louisville Is For Lovers" fame, and is still available at www.louisvilleisforlovers.com.
2009 finds the band preparing to record what will comprise their debut full length album, again with Curtis behind the board at Headfirst. With enough songs under their collective belt to easily fill two albums (but fear not, kind reader, for your heroes don't anticipate pulling a "Use Your Illusion" anytime soon), the band will ostensibly begin searching for a label to call home, while spreading their sonic gospel to audiences far and wide.
TROPHY WIVES "King Cab." Live in Chicago 4/4/09
