by David Wilikofsky
Momma, a four piece from Los Angeles, have put together an ambitious concept album with their latest release Two of Me. The album sounds like an old favorite by pulling liberally from various strains of 90’s indie rock, but the band re-contextualizes those sounds to make them their own. That, along with the overarching narrative tying the songs together, adds up to a strong statement from an exciting young band.
Grunge’s influence looms large, but the band modernizes the sound. Traditional grunge was all about huge dynamic shifts and guitar riffs, but Momma’s songs are more atmospheric than bombastic. A song like “Derby” subverts typical grunge theatrics; all the hallmarks of the genre are there, but my ear is drawn more to the aching beauty of the guitar lines coursing through the song. “Ready Runner” could easily be an outtake from a classic Liz Phair album, with a guitar solo that gives me chills in the same way “Shatter” does from Exile in Guyville. There’s also touches of Kim Deal and the Breeders circa Pod throughout. By drawing on these familiar sounds, the album immediately feels like an old favorite.
From a narrative perspective, Two of Me is loosely based around the “Bug House,” a purgatorial world created by the band. Each song explores different characters who populate this world and what they might have done to get sent there. I don’t know that I would have picked up on this throughline without some background reading on the album, but once you understand the story the often violent and visceral lyrics fit this concept perfectly. In “Biohazard,” the narrator seems to be in a fit of rage, singing “He took my muzzle off / What a bastard / He should know I’m a hazard”. “Double Dare” describes a fight, as characters sucker punch each other into the ground. “Derby” tells the story of a horse race that may or may not be fixed. Whatever is happening in these songs, it has usually got a nefarious edge to it.
Concept or no, any successful album hinges on the songs themselves. Luckily Momma deliver in that department. The songs are uniformly catchy, burrowing their way into the listener’s subconscious. Befitting the otherworldly narrative, there’s a dreamy, ethereal quality to all of the instrumentals that contrasts with the specificity of the lyrics. Melodies shine through an omnipresent layer of guitar fuzz, almost like the sun piercing through a layer of clouds. While I hope to never inhabit the Bug House with all of the characters in these songs, I expect to pay return visits often.