![\"Screenshot](\"\/\/media.wonderlandmagazine.com\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screenshot-453.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe can’t get enough of The Prettiots here at Wonderland<\/i>. Back in 2014, we spoke to the New York based girl band about their name (“pretty idiots…because the most powerful thing we can do as a band is be underestimated”), the virtues of being cutre, and their musical heroes. Since then, a whole lot has happened for\u00a0Kay Kasparhauser (ukulele hero) and Lulu Landolfi (bass queen), not least a record deal with indie giants Rough Trade. Specialising in cheery melodies paired with extremely frank lyrics and casually delivered melancholia, the twosome\u00a0are part The Smiths-influenced poets \u00a0– they’re favourite Morrissey lyric being “Give in to lust, give up to lust, heaven knows we’ll soon be dust” – and part punky rebels who couldn’t care less what you think of them.<\/p>\n
In one of their best tracks to date, ‘Suicide Hotline’, the girls make a fairly bad taste, and fairly funny, allusion to Sylvia Plath’s suicide. With that kind of irreverence we weren’t in the least surprised\u00a0when they claim\u00a0their other literary influences are “Steve Harvey and that chick that wrote\u00a050 Shades of Gray.<\/em>” Inspiration certainly comes from unlikely sources for The Prettiots, with “PC computer music, Samba and Dwight Twilley Band” all name-dropped as current obsessions. Indeed, you only need to look to their sublime cover of The Venga Boy’s ‘Boom Boom Boom’ to\u00a0notice\u00a0their trademark wit and talent for re-appropriation – performing the track during their European tour was, they tell us, a highlight of their live performances.<\/p>\n When we get on to their songwriting process during the making of the new album, they explain that their method\u00a0is completely collaborative: “there’s essentially 100s of voice notes passed between\u00a0the\u00a0two of us that are generally recorded while humming on\u00a0the\u00a0way to\u00a0the\u00a0grocery store.” It’s a lovely image, and one which seems to capture the girls’ spontaneously D.I.Y. attitude and they’re\u00a0unashamed honest. “Our music is truly honest so lyrically\u00a0there isn’t any tweaking that goes in\u00a0there. Musically we write and produce based off of what kind of music were getting into at that moment.” If you imagine them recording in a dingy Brooklyn studio, however, think again, because\u00a0the\u00a0first half of album production w<\/span>as spent in\u00a0pretty\u00a0idyllic surroundings:\u00a0“we all went up state with Paul Kolderie for\u00a0the\u00a0week and set up a studio in this beautiful guest house. We got to barbecue and swim\/sun bathe\u00a0between sessions which was phenomenal.”<\/span><\/p>\n We can’t help but wonder whether such an inherently subversive duo would be happy signing on to a record label where they might find their artistic identity compromised. This is Rough Trade we’re talking about though, and the band have only good things to say, gushing, “it’s been so phenomenal working with such a great support system and\u00a0they are constantly inspiring us to take more risks which is really sick.” They’re favourite song from\u00a0Funs Cool<\/em>? “‘hope yr happy’ I’m not totally sure why, I just really treat it like our baby.” As for our number one? With this many alt-pop bangers, it’s too tough to call.<\/p>\n