Credit: Michael Cook
Beloved Boston rock stars Pet Fox are back with their third album and first since 2019. A Face In Your Life churns out exciting and fresh sounds as the trio’s chemistry continues to deepen. Theo Hartlett’s smooth vocal sets up every song with ample room for guitar shredding along with the suave talents of bassist Morgan Luzzi and drummer Jesse Weiss. Standout tracks “Hesitate” and “It Won’t Last” are perfect examples of where a passion for collaboration and the necessity of having fun come together. The 10-track LP is out tomorrow, but before fans can devour this new release, we chatted about choosing favorites, naming their band and butterfly sanctuaries…
Allston Pudding: Your first full length since before the pandemic, did the album change at all over the past couple of years?
Theo Hartlett: [The album] stayed pretty much the same. We recorded in September 2019. Playing live now, we update with little filler things, like “oh! We should’ve done this on the record!”
Morgan Luzzi: When the pandemic hit we kind of stalled, but yeah everything pretty much stayed the same. Added a couple of things, like Theo said, I think “Hesitate”, there’s a tiny break that we added.
‘A Face In Your Life’ Artwork
AP: What’s your favorite song on the album?
TH: We may have the same answer for this one. “A Face In Your Life”, the title track. It has a wide dynamic range, really cool instrumental live, it’s kind of heavy. It throws a lot around, but it’s short and sweet.
ML: I actually agree! Over time it’s changed. “A Face In Your Life”, I always find myself going back to that one. Something about it harmonically and the changing dynamics. We debated over it being a single but it’s the cool sleeper [hit].
TH: Jesse do you have a different favorite?
Jesse Weiss: Probably not that one [laughs]. No, I like them all, it’s actually really hard to choose a favorite. The standouts for me are “Undeserving You” and “Thanksgiving”. I don’t know why, I like the feels and they strike a chord within me.
TH: Yeah, I think a close second – may even be tied – is the opening track “Settle Even”. [I like] the slow build and I am particularly proud of the lyrics on that one.
AP: Where did the name Pet Fox come from?
TH: Our first show booked with this band Crumb, we were supposed to play great Scott in April 2018 and we didn’t have a band name yet [laughs]. We had an idea we weren’t really keen on, called Quarter Roy, like yeah that’s pretty dumb. We had a group chat for sharing ideas and collaborating and one day I just mentioned Pet Fox. I’ve always wanted a pet fox, it seemed like a cool name. We settled on it. I definitely don’t hate it!
AP: That’s good!
ML: I remember it really coincided with the fact that we had made this record and had a show coming up and needed something to put on the poster.
Credit: Julia Leiby
AP: Do you have any standout tour memories? Good or bad?
TH: Pet Fox had quite the honor of playing with Hammer No More the Fingers in Durham, NC. Jesse had played shows with them for years, but still to this day, they are one of my favorite bands. Heavily influenced by them.
ML: One stand out, we had a show at Cornell playing a random college gig. College shows in the past were unpredictable, not always well attended, but people just really came out and we’re so excited about our music which was a real surprise.
JW: People were going crazy!
ML: It was as if everyone knew all of our music. We played for 45 minutes, they still wanted more.
TH: Like “what do we even play?? I feel like we’ve been playing for a while!” [laughs]
JW: Also the pie! At The Pie Shop in DC… it’s a venue, it’s awesome, everyone’s so nice, and they gave us free pie! Incredible.
AP: On the topic of food, I read you guys love Taco Bell. What do you order? Do you have any other favorite food stops on the road?
TH: When you’re in a crunch on tour and it’s late night after a show, I think were all gonna go to Taco Bell. I always go with a chicken quesadilla with 1-2 spicy potato soft tacos.
JW: I don’t think we really eat there, it’s usually after-
TH: Well, anyhow, what would you get at Taco Bell?
JW: Spicy potato soft taco, for sure.
ML: Yeah, I’m gonna also say a spicy potato soft taco.
JW: When they got rid of potatoes we didn’t go until they brought them back.
TH: As a Boston band we have to go to Felipe’s rooftop for some burritos and frozen margaritas. Band favorite definitely.
JW: One of our goals is to play on the roof at Felipe’s.
AP: What’s your opinion on Anna’s Taqueria? I know it can be polarizing for locals…
TH: Anna’s is not bad. It’s good. I mean I’m not gonna not eat Anna’s…
JW: There’s levels but it’s all good. Like pizza, you’re still going to eat a bad slice of pizza.
Credit: Anna Stromer
AP: If you could have an unconventional pet, besides a fox, what would you want?
TH: Oh, I think raccoons are really cute.
ML: Oh man. I think it would be pretty cool to have a butterfly sanctuary, but in your house. You could just walk into a sunroom and there’s a ton of butterflies around.
TH: That’s so Morgan.
JW: I don’t know. It’s a lot of responsibility to have a pet. I love all animals a lot. I have a cat.
AP: What are you most looking forward to this year, now that your album is coming out?
TH: We have a short tour out to Chicago with our friends in Maneka the band. We’ve never ventured west with Pet Fox and we’re playing with a lot of our friends along the way. We’re sorting through a plethora of voice memos that we have so we’re going to start demoing for LP four. Definitely what I’m looking forward to.
Pet Fox new LP A Face In Your Life will be available on streaming platforms and on their bandcamp page tomorrow – Friday, June 17th. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more!