There’s something undeniably alluring about the rise and drop of rock stars which is stood the test of time. Irrespective of whether it was the hysteria of Beatlemania in the ‘60s or the arrival of grunge in the ’90s that experienced kids quickly bleaching their hair and donning outsized denim jackets, the way particular bands have arrive to determine generations is charming. On their newest album, Domestic Identify, Momma consider a appear at what it indicates to make it big.
On their adhere to-up to 2020’s Two of Me, founders Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten resolved to consider a additional particular tactic to songwriting. At the time they were being going through polar reverse ends of younger love—Weingarten opted to write about heartbreak, whilst Friedman had recently moved in with their lengthy-time period associate. The duality of their encounters is offset by the recurring theme of fame and the tropes in the new music market they take a look at.
One particular of the preliminary music they wrote for the record was “Rockstar,” a riff-heavy track influenced by a Tenacious D documentary and their obsession with starting to be “The Finest Rock Band of All Time.” In the early phases of creating and demoing the album, Momma also became intrigued by the grip Nirvana’s 1991 album, Nevermind experienced on society.

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“The way that Nevermind fully influenced an whole society of men and women and youth was insane and tremendous fascinating to us. We loved the concept that back again in the working day, individuals cared so substantially about rock and roll bands,” Friedman states. “I assume that we had been just fascinated by the fact that modern society was moved by new music that wasn’t just well-liked audio or pop songs. It was like rock, indie rock, and guitar audio and factors like that.”
Across 12 hefty-hitting tracks, Momma assert that they are not just searching for out their 15 minutes of fame—they’re capturing to have the larger sized-than-daily life, almost legendary success of their idols. Domestic Identify is nostalgic, however progressive, as they take inspiration from legendary artists like Liz Phair, The Breeders, Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement and Veruca Salt. Although some songs are crystal clear nods to their heroes (like “Lucky,” which was right impressed by Liz Phair’s “Nashville”), Momma make it obvious that they are not striving to develop into the subsequent Nirvana or Pinback—they want to create their individual sound.

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Even with their ambition, Momma nevertheless have a carefree radiance, evident on the breathless joyride that is “Speeding 72,” or the addictive, starry-eyed first single “Medicine.” They really do not press themselves to in good shape into the rock band archetype or make a file that isn’t an correct reflection of what they want to say just to assure a chart-topper. Rather, they embrace the tough edges of their self-taught taking part in abilities and all of the thoughts that arrive with getting a 20-one thing chasing a dream.
“We really do not genuinely glance at tunes or songwriting from a audio theory standpoint at all, or from a quite methodical standpoint. I believe a whole lot of it is just intuition and emotion,” Weingarten states. “A great deal of the guitar pieces we create have very little to do with, ‘I’m participating in this because this is the fifth on this chord,’ like, I have no notion what that implies. It’s just very instinctive, and that just comes from a put of, ignorance nearly, which I think is a interesting thing.”
This unabashed authenticity is rife throughout Household Title, thanks in portion to the band’s change away from summary imagery and to composing extra autobiographically. When a lot of of the songs on the album went by various iterations and appear from fragments of voice memos from a long time in the past, there’s a perception of cohesion that Weingarten and Friedman attribute in component to Weingarten signing up for Friedman and their 3rd member, Aron Kobayashi Ritch, in New York Metropolis.
The band used above a calendar year demoing the album, and eventually recorded break up between Studio G in Brooklyn and Ritch’s household studio in Mar Vista, Los Angeles. Dwelling up to their burgeoning rock star position, each night time the band would wrap recording, get beverages at the Broadway, and show up brilliant eyed and specifically on time the upcoming working day to do it all once more.
When quite a few of the most famous bands have been accused of becoming market-outs or compromising their audio just to you should label execs, Momma make it crystal clear that honesty is at the middle of their songwriting. Whether or not they become a cult classic or very actually a house name, their anthemic tracks have an urgency and intimacy that they intend on preserving.
“Whenever you compose, it has to be truthful,” Weingarten states. “Even if you aren’t individually sensation individuals issues that you are producing, as a lyricist, it continue to has to be genuine, and it has to imply a thing.”

Samantha Sullivan is a Paste Audio intern and writer based in Philadelphia. She can be attained on Instagram @fangirlpurgatory.
