A sharp eye for contradiction informs “Greenwich Village,” a single inspired by the wanderings of Little Falls Trophy frontman Doug Albregts.
“I was spending a lot of time in the villages around lower Manhattan, just watching the scene and taking it in,” says Albregts. “There’s this mix of style and conviction—people who are socially loud, politically fired-up and very intentional about how they present themselves.”
Albregts was also struck by how much energy exists alongside a certain comfort level (and income bracket) many people would kill for. “They’re being supported in ways that let them live pretty well,” he says. “But they’re also pushing back against the systems around them.”
Albregts speaks from the fly-on-the-wall pulpit of an outsider—and he’s earned it. All but disavowing any one scene, he named his band after an actual trophy shop in New Jersey’s Little Falls Township. The place is just a few miles from the garden store that served as inspiration for Fountains Of Wayne, another band that occupied a distinct space where Middle American rock, power pop and indie sensibilities intersect. Little Falls Trophy’s fourth LP, Everywhere You Want It To Be, was produced by Ross Petersen, a guy with too many mainstream-rock credits to list here. With a Grammy nominee at the helm and sturdy tunes to work with, the album marries its grit, clarity and momentum to some incisive observations from a guy who’s not looking impress anyone but himself.
“That ‘you’re Prada on the outside’ idea stuck with me,” says Albregts of a key line in the first verse of “Greenwich Village.” “It’s image versus reality: the version of ourselves we project and the one that’s actually holding everything together behind the scenes. And in a place like that, where identity and expression are so front and center, it just feels amplified. I’m not judging it. I actually think it’s very human. We all carry contradictions like that, whether we admit it or not.”
We’re proud to premiere Little Falls Trophy’s “Greenwich Village.” Look for the new LP sometime next year.
—Hobart Rowland
