Worriers Live @ History (Photoset)
Worriers performing at History in Toronto – Photos by Steve Taylor (https://stevetaylorphoto.ca/)
About Worriers
For the better part of a decade, Worriers have used their own brand of punk-adjacent indie rock to tell stories of heartbreak, gender expression, identity, and love. 2023 started with the release of their home-recorded project Warm Blanket, a clean slate of ten songs that set the stage for a more significant shift to come. Now, on their first studio album in three years, Trust Your Gut, songwriter Lauren Denitzio returns with a self-produced and pivotal release demonstrating the true depth and complexity of their career with the band.
Worriers became Denitzio’s main focus after the wake-up call of open-heart surgery at just 25 years old. The event shook them into leaving a toxic creative partnership and starting a band that could evolve along with them. That priority takes center stage on Trust Your Gut, as Denitzio’s 2019 move from the East Coast to Los Angeles found them collaborating with Atom Willard (Against Me!, Social Distortion) as a fun exercise, only to realize they had started writing the next album together.
The sonic goals for the album led to the addition of Denitzio’s friend Franz Nicolay (The Hold Steady) after tweeting that they were trying to write in his style. His response was “Send me demos!” and the results are now foundational melodies layered throughout the album.
With Frank Piegaro (whose signature guitar style was featured on 2020’s You Or Someone You Know) returning to the lineup, the final addition was Cayetana’s Allegra Anka on bass. It’s not every day an artist gets to share the stage with bands like the above, but Denitzio’s remarkable talent lies in their ability to turn admiration into meaningful collaborations. They credit these partnerships as a springboard to showcase their personal development as a songwriter.
The band’s moniker, Worriers, is a homonym. When introducing someone new to the band, it’s important to specify “Worriers, as in to fret, not to fight.” But Worriers have finally done plenty of fighting on Trust Your Gut. Lest anyone thinks they’ve forgotten the political-punk roots of their debut album Imaginary Life, it wouldn’t be a Worriers record without referencing things like dystopian robot security dogs, dancing on the grave of a fascist, or a nod to the activist-themed novel Stay and Fight.
In a time when people were desperate for connection and leaning into relationships, Denitzio was scrawling a cathartic manifesto denouncing the things that no longer served them. But this is not a record of angst and scorekeeping. Trust Your Gut is an honest and often witty journey through heartbreak on its way to strength. In a way, Denitzio was also starting a new and incredibly vital relationship: one with themself.
While Denitzio penned their most-listened track “They/Them/Theirs” years before pronouns entered the national stage, the unfolding of their gender identity has certainly shaped not only the band but the journey to writing Trust Your Gut. Eschewing the classification of “women-in-music” while paying their dues in a male-dominated scene has been nothing if not an exercise in resilience.
While each song is part of this unapologetic journey to self-acceptance, each has a distinctive sound all its own. In “Top 5,” bold guitars and a Hammond organ wrestle with the victors and villains of the pandemic years. In contrast, “Cloudy and 55” quietly longs for the comfort of home while building independence.
Denitzio skillfully reimagines an idiom in “Hold My Breath,” capturing the conclusion of a contentious relationship without dwelling in self-pity. While getting back on one’s feet can be the hardest part, they refuse to indulge in licking their wounds even for a moment. The song features a couplet that is as chilling as it is protective: “Now my heart is a really hard sell // You want me to think that you still wish me the best. // You’ll come home to just outlines of bookshelves. // I took what I can carry, you can take the rest.”
The equally impactful and standout pop track “Trust Your Gut” tackles knowing your worth when that energy is not being matched.
To get where you’re going, you have to get away from where you’ve been. Coming up in DIY scene, Worriers have earned the mark of a seasoned traveler, ready to demonstrate all they’ve learned along the way. Come for the biting self-empowerment and stay for the nods to pop, rock, indie, and folk. On Trust Your Gut, Denitzio emerges from the ashes, not as a phoenix reborn per se, but rather fortified by their past to build a more resilient future. As they sing on “Math,” “Sometimes it’s hard to remember that // I once loved all the lives that I lived before.”
