34 Trolley is part drummer solo project and part guest-littered Dance-infused Punk/Hardcore album. Said drummer is Jarrett Dougherty, formerly of now-defunct legendary New Jersey D.I.Y. Punk rippers Screaming Females. Across Dougherty’s debut EP, Relaxation, he plays drums, as well as percussion and synthesizers; plus, it was released on Jarrett’s newly-minted Philly-based label, Feel The Four Records. It evokes the sound of early 1980’s New York City Post-punk Mutant Disco. ie: ESG, Liquid Liquid, and Tom Tom Club, and/or Big Audio Dynamite, The Idiot era Iggy Pop, and The Bravery. Relaxation’s contained four tracks boast contributions from Brittany “Brit” Luna (CATBITE/CATFITE/CATLITE) on vocals, Marissa Paternoster (NOUN, Screaming Females) & John Hoffman (Vacation, The Mimes, Swim Team) on guitars, Victor Vieira-Branco (Bark Culture, Jorge Nuno Connection) on vibraphone, bassist Cristian Adams (Push Ups,) tenor saxophonist Bryan Rogers (FEELER GAUGE,) trombonist Frank Rein (West Philadelphia Orchestra / Brass Band,) and Koofreh “Koof Ibi” Ibi Umoron (Muscle Tough, KooF & Friends). The EP is, also, the premiere release from brand new label Feel The Four Records. Feel The Four is run by long-time friends Jarrett and Cristian Adams (who, also, played bass throughout the EP). They describe Feel The Four as “a Dance music label… Dance music being any music you can dance to.” Check feelthefourrecords.com and @feelthefourrecords on Instagram for updates. 34 Trolley’s RElaxation EP additionally boasts clap contributions on “Coming for You” on Jarrett Dougherty, Brittany Luna, and Tim Hildebrand (CATBITE, The Snails, The Dull Blue Lights.) Everything was recorded and mixed by John Hoffman, mastered by Ed Brooks, lacquer cut by Carl Rowatti, and with EP artwork designed by Perry Shall. 34 Trolley’s Relaxation EP is now available on Feel The Four Records digitally exclusively on Bandcamp and physically on 12-inch within select record stores, which you can locate through Instagram. Jarrett Dougherty spoke exclusively with The Witzard for the latest installment of All-Around Breakdown below the break.

I’ve had the idea for 34 Trolley for a long time, but it never quite seemed like the right moment and I was never totally sure who I should get to work with me on it. There was, also, the very real possibility of asking people to play on the songs and getting turned down. When my friend from Cincinnati and seasoned recording engineer, John Hoffman, mentioned that he would be in Philly for a few months and wanted to check out some studios, I decided the time had come to make the project happen. “Relaxation” was one of the songs I had had around for the longest amount of time and was the first we went after. Each of the parts were recorded one by one starting with the drums and percussion. That meant that I played the drums for this with nothing else going. It is a single take; eight minutes of drums. As each part was slowly added on, it was amazing to see my years-old vision finally take shape.

After I had recorded a few songs in 2023 with John Hoffman, it felt like we needed to round things out. We hadn’t been able to get the vocals done in the first session, so it felt like if I didn’t set a date, the tracks would hang in limbo forever. So, John drove to Philly in the dead of winter in early 2024. “Coming for You” was probably the last song to come together in my mind. I really just wanted to combine 70’s Funk samples with 90’s Alt. Indie Hip-Hop. Like as if RZA and Lou Barlow had made a record together in 1994. When I started to put those pieces together in my head, I realized it felt a lot like Tom Tom Club. So, from there, I took Tom Tom Club as my guiding light. It was great to be able to bring a crew of horns into a session and tell them “yeah, I actually do just want you to play three notes.”

This record was heavily inspired by 99 Records, which was a label from NYC in the early 1980’s that put out about a dozen records and then went bankrupt. They did monolithic Dance records from ESG and Liquid Liquid, but, also, seminal releases from Bush Tetras, Vivian Goldman, Glen Branca, and even The Congos. Despite the releases being pretty damn diverse, there is a funk that ties everything together. Something that they never shied away from was the edgier, Punky side of Funk. I wanted to make sure the record had a bit of that. While we are here, I want to make sure to give the utmost thanks and respect to Brit Luna from CATBITE, who sang on all these tracks. She did me a huge favor by contributing to this project and absolutely killed it.

What can I say? I love the early Chicago House records! I have a bunch of Trax [Records] 12-inches. This song is a bit of an ode to that era. There are certain famous records that prefigure specific Dance music genres, such as Charanjit Singh’s Proto-Acid House record or GRAUZONE’s Proto-Techno record. As a drummer and percussionist, I love the intricate use of percussion in early House music. So, this track is basically built on the idea of “what if there was a lost Post-punk record that accidentally was an early House release?” It is mostly just drums, synth, bass, and a bunch of percussion. I knew I wanted bass guitar on the track to draw the release together. Shout-out to my Feel The Four Records co-founder Cristian Adams, who came through on these recordings with the excellent bass playing. For this track, he asked me what I wanted and I just said, “whatever [Joy Division/New Order bassist] Peter Hook would do…” and I think he pretty much nailed it. Also, I have to mention Victor Vieira-Branco on the vibes. What a force! My favorite moment of the EP is when the synth drops out during this track, the vibes come in, and it is just all analogue instruments playing. The vibe’s sound so [ethereal] and glorious. It always takes my breath away.