Have you ever felt like your own introversion is keeping you from living fully?

If so, you have something in common with Pete Marino of The Trampoline Delay. The indie rock songsmith penned “Excuses Excuses” as a way to address his own social anxiety — and the opportunity cost that comes with it.

“Lyrically, ‘Excuses Excuses’ is about letting your shyness or social anxiety take over,” Marino said. “(It’s about) that battle you have with your inner voice that makes excuses as to why you shouldn’t get out there and live your life.”

The song came from a moment of life imitating art; it was written and recorded in a few short hours, on a night when Marino opted to stay in, rather than go out and greet the world.

“Ironically, I came up with the verse first, which had the line,’ but excuses always keep me from my life,’ after being invited out by a friend to see a band they worked with called Excuses Excuses,” Marino said. “Like I sometimes do, my mind came up with an excuse as to why I shouldn’t go out that night… and I sort of regretted it within hours. Instead of just going to bed, I went into my home studio, wrote the verse, and basically wrote and recorded the rest of the song in around three hours.”

Sonically, “Excuses Excuses” is a bona fide alt-rock earworm, driven forth with firepower from behind the kit, courtesy of drummer Gerard Ross, while lead axe man Josh Macintosh showcases magnificent melodic sensibilities, kissed with a timeless rock and roll edge.

Check it out below, and be sure to stay tuned for more music from The Trampoline Delay later this spring!