If you find yourself in the waiting room of the Utopia Animal Hospital, cast your eye over the informal exhibit of nature-inspired artwork there. The studies of wolves, foxes, and other creatures in near-tropical landscapes dotted with neon trees and flowers will draw you into their own universe. But what’s really striking is the art’s backstory: It’s all created by badass no-wave rocker Alicja Trout, perhaps best known as Jay Reatard’s collaborator in the Lost Sounds, later a key creator behind such propulsive bands as the River City Tanlines and the Sweet Knives.
Completists also know of Trout’s other works, which mine a different sonic territory, going back to the sweetly naive-yet-arch synth-pop of The Clears, and her solo singles on Loverly Music, under the name Alicja. That side of Trout, now known as Alicja-pop, was still going strong in 2016 with the release of Rats (Home Recordings 2009-2013), its sounds echoed by cover art depicting the artist up against a wall with a synth. Reflecting on the look and feel of that album, Trout says she was striving “to make a cover that fit the aesthetic of the music I was associated with.”
Which brings us to Howlin’, Alicja-pop’s new LP on Black and Wyatt Records, which sports a cover more in-line with her fantastical animal studies from Utopia. The songs, too, have an earthier feel, even if the overall mix of guitar-driven and synth-driven music is consistent between both albums. (Indeed, the versions of “Shadow Hills” on both releases are nearly identical.) And the album is already turning heads. As Henry Rollins himself has said, “Howlin’ is not only a great collection of songs, but balances her considerable skills excellently. It’s a very cool record.”
“Balance” is the key. Though Rats certainly featured guitar-heavy rockers, Howlin’ ventures further into the sonic possibilities of the guitar, from the classic rock strut of “Glass Planet, Blank Space Mind” to the wistful ostinatos of the title track. And there’s ecological balance as well: Both the album cover and the title song reflect Trout’s deepening embrace of the nonhuman world, or what Trout calls “natural inspiration.”
“It could just be progressing through life, getting older. I used to love city life, but the noise started driving me nuts,” she says. In contrast, she found respite in nature. “There’s an escape when you cultivate your wild garden. And I’ll obsess on different animals.” One need only look at her paintings of dogs, wolves, and foxes to see it. “They’ve always interested me as being the top of the food chain before humans came and controlled all that. They’re the main balancer in the ecosystem, the wisest hunters. They have a complex group and pack. And they also get along with humans. Even going as far as human children being raised by wolves. People don’t give canines credit for their abilities and sensitivity. So I think some of that little world was getting incorporated into the art.”
By “art,” Trout means both her visual and musical ventures. Taking it a step further, she considers the creative act itself to be an expression of nature. “Just making music, what’s guiding you?” she asks. “It’s nature that’s guiding you. How do you pick what chord goes next? And why do those three or four or five chords all sound good together? It’s just something having to do with nature, the same way you throw a bunch of zinnia seeds in the ground and they all grow together, all a little different, yet similar. And everyone agrees that they’re pleasing: The bees and different creatures come to them, and this different system is going on. I think it’s related.”
That natural reverie may be why, when asked if these songs emerged from the isolation of quarantine, Trout can’t quite say. “I just try to go into this space of alone time where it’s almost like meditation, except you’re doing something the whole time. And I really can’t place where I was in time at the time because the memory in my head is just this space of recording. It has nothing to do with what’s going on around me. So the memories from 2015 and 2018 and 2021 would all look the same in my head.”
Alicja-pop will play a record release show with full band at B-Side Memphis, Friday, November 12th.