Songwriter Lizzie Killian has remained active with her band Teens in Trouble over the past two and a half years since releasing the project’s debut album. Last May they contributed a pair of songs to a split with pop-punk trio Bat Boy, and this year their tour schedule brought them to Japan for the first time. Now they’re returning with more new material in the form of the loose single “I Do,” their debut track for Lauren Records. In the hands of Dave Schiffman—who’s worked with Rage Against the Machine, Weezer, and PUP before them—the track takes the form of hooky power-pop fueled by grunge guitar .
“This is a friendship breakup song,” Killian shares of the cut. “I’d convinced myself I was over it until a mutual friend asked me about the situation over brunch. As I started to explain what happened, I found myself getting heated and realizing that maybe I wasn’t actually over it after all. When I hosted a songwriting workshop at my home last summer, I had written down the story during a freewriting exercise, and so when Hannah [Eagle, of Bat Boy] and I partnered up for a co-write, we started putting this song together with pieces from my freewrite as I was strumming on guitar. It came together surprisingly quickly—we must’ve written the song start to finish, solo included, in just a couple hours.”
Equally hooky is the single’s music video, which sees Killian step into the boxing ring while she and her band play from the sideline. “We brought in trained boxer Holly Lawson to play my opponent, and she was able to quickly teach me some moves on set,” Killian shares. “I’m probably not going to be kicking asses anytime soon, but I’m really proud of how the video turned out!”
Check out the clip directed by Aja Pop below.
