Header image by Alexis Kleshik / Words by Willa Rudolph
The day is upon us: Veronica has dropped their debut EP Rottweiler – 6 tracks of angsty feminine rage, sorrow, honesty, and heart eyes.
The 5-piece band played an incredible set last night (the EP front to back) at Otto’s Shrunken Head on 14th street, and the tiki bar drinks offered a fabulous treat to go along with its chilling and heartwarming drama.
Lead singer Sofia Zarzuela wrote these songs between Ohio, New Orleans, and NYC with her whole heart, and she even cried through a smile on stage while singing the lead track “Pleasantville,” while all her friends and supporters screamed the lyrics back at her.
Something like Hole, Indigo DeSouza, Mitski, a pop Katie-Jane Garside, Veronica’s sound is grungy and visceral, but unmistakably catchy and imbued with femininity. Sofia can’t help it, she’s just bleeding out on the stage (metaphorically, of course). And the band behind her, Stavros Lari (guitar), Dylan Hamburger (guitar), Joe Kerwin (bass), and Billy Hay (drums) are a bunch of guys that support her sickeningly gorgeous voice with their tight sound, passion, poise, and sweat.
Rottweiler begins with “Blue Ribbon,” a heart stopping kick drum and twinkling guitar welcome you as Sofia’s voice sings the first lyric on the EP: “Sit with the pain ‘til it feeds you / sit with the pain ‘til it heals you / sit with the pain ‘til it eats you from the outside in.” The sapphic song is about a female friendship and the chorus gives way to Sofia’s rage as she screams over the thrashing drums and guitars. This one was released earlier this year as a single and has an awesome music video to go with it. (Also don’t be confused, the band was called Sofia Zarzuela until a couple months ago, when they permanently changed it to Veronica)
“Half Closed Doors,” is more upbeat and dancy but maintains that trademark angst and spit and bite. The girl is a scorpio, what can we say. “Tangerine,” (my favorite) begins soft and sweet, but the chorus is TRULY heart wrenching. Sofia’s emotion is extremely visceral through her vocals, and she sings, “When you decide / You wanna do that shit / there’s nothing I can do… / to stop it.” But looking at those words on a page doesn’t do it justice, you have to listen!
“Home for the Weekend,” is a heartbreaking tale about kissing your highschool boyfriend when you’re home from college—Sofia performed the song standing still on stage, with her arms crossed across her chest like they were laid that way by a mortician, as her gaze focused intensely, far, far away, above everyone’s heads and distant from where we were physically in the room. The song is slow and haunting, paired down with a sweet little bongo and one guitar. It opens up more and more as the song goes on, getting bigger as guitars are layered and until Sofia’s stacked vocals harmonize all over themselves in the outro.
Next is “Pleasantville,” which is a particularly relatable track about feeling ostracized and abandoned. Veronica has been playing this one for a long time, so the whole crowd was screaming all the words. Guitar feedback and aggressive drums back Sofia’s sing songy voice. She oscillates between sounding so pretty and sounding so filled with desperation and rage (but still pretty).
The final song on the EP, “Joanie,” is an acoustic ballad inspired by Sofia’s time spent in New Orleans with her bandmates Stavros and Billy, and the people she met staying in a stranger’s home and becoming attached to their big rottweilers. It has interesting characters and the lyrics tell more of a narrative story.
Rottweiler is definitely worth a listen, and is perfect for the onset of autumn. It’s introspective, poignant, and feels like a really honest purge of raw emotions. Plus, it rocks.
Keep up with Veronica HERE!