THEY’RE creating more than a bit of a buzz in their adopted New York are Momma, the fuzz-pop collective of singer-guitarists Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, bassist Kobayashi Ritch, and drummer Zach CapittiFenton, who’ve signed on with one of London’s hottest imprints, the better to air their wares around the globe.
The label to land them is Lucky Number, already home to art-punks Dream Wife and HMLTD and fellow NYC outfit Sunflower Bean, possibly the stablemates they have most in common with, and that’s not just a geographical thing; both possess a certain indie elegance and class that elevates them above the humdrum and the scrappy. Evidence, m’lud? Well, exhibit A: the crisp riff-fest of “Medicine”, over which Etta and Allegra close harmonise with a dulcet warmth that Radial Spangle and Joy Zipper fans will immediately fall for.
“Medicine” comes accompanied with a VHS-shot video and pulls off that trick of being unashamedly guitar pop that, when handled by British bands oftentimes, can come over a teensy bit indie landfill; but those sleepy, smudged mascara vocals, a little Malkmus shreddiness to the guitars; hell, probably the fact Kobayashi slings his bass that important inch lower à la Ramones, elevates things entirely.
The band say of the song: “The two guitar riffs were written by Etta and Allegra about a year before we actually brought it to the full band.
“When we wrote the first verse, we realised it was one of the first times we couldn’t write about heartbreak – we were both in very loving relationships. We wanted to write about that feeling of just being addicted to someone, and how someone else’s company can really feel like a drug.”
The band’s second album, Two of Me, really bust though Stateside upon its release last year, with ears pricking up at Pitchfork and Rolling Stone.
Momma will support their new labelmates Sunflower Bean on a US tour in the new year, with British dates on the horizon.
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