Brooklyn-based band Momma—led by singers/guitarists Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten— today released their latest anthemic earworm “Motorbike,” the final single ahead of Friday’s release of their highly anticipated new album Household Name via Polyvinyl Record Co. in North America (Lucky Number Music for the R.O.W.). The track is accompanied by an Emma Penrose & Zack Shorrosh-directed video, which mirrors the song’s themes of romantic fantasy. “I wrote this song about a boy I had a crush on who really wanted nothing to do with me,” explains Weingarten, who sings lead vocals on “Motorbike.” “The song is basically just fantasy—even though it’s about a real person, it’s also about how we can make up elaborate ideas of who other people are in our heads, and get so caught up in these fake scenarios that they kind of end up feeling real. I wanted the song to feel like you’re escaping something, because my daydreams about this boy and his motorcycle were definitely an escape from my life at the time.”
“Motorbike” follows “Lucky” (via NYLON feature: “Momma Is Indie Rock’s Next Big Thing”) and the critically-acclaimed fuzzed out lead single “Speeding 72,” which was recently ranked the #4 Best Song of 2022 (So Far) by SPIN, and Top 50 via Consequence.Household Name is earning early rave reviews in the U.K, including 9/10 stars fromDistorted in Sound, and 8/10 stars from The Line of Best Fit, and is available for pre-order/pre-save HERE. Other album tracks “Rockstar” and “Medicine” earned praise and support upon release from Stereogum (feature), SPIN (feature), Rolling Stone, NME (First On feature), The FADER (20 Best Rock Songs Right Now), Brooklyn Vegan, NPR Music(New Music Friday playlist), FLOOD, Under the Radar, and more.
Produced by Momma’s Aron Kobayashi Ritch and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Emily Lazar (The Killers, Maggie Rogers), Household Name is the quickly rising group’s first full-band collaboration recorded in a proper studio that sees the band skillfully carve out their own path in today’s world of alt rock. Balancing heavy riffs, deep emotions, inviting sonic production, and a lighthearted, wry sense of humor, Household Name tells the world: This is Momma.
Bygone heroes helped inspire a lyrical theme throughout Household Name: the rise and fall of the rock star, and the tropes and tribulations that come with that arc. The theme allowed Momma to celebrate (and, in some cases, directly reference) icons like Nirvana, Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, and the Breeders’ Kim Deal, while weaving in their own perspective and experiences. Although Household Name finds the band embracing personal storytelling for the first time, much of the album embraces a satiric sensibility with its tongue-in-cheek rock culture references.
After supporting Wet Leg on sold-out West Coast shows and making a big debut as part the U.K.’s The Great Escape Festival, Momma will next support Snail Mail’s U.S. summer tour beginning August 12th. The band’s own headlining U.S. tour begins September 12th and will see them playing their biggest venues to date, including shows at Los Angeles’ The Echo on September 24th and Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on October 8th, full itinerary HERE and below.
