Momma Break Down New Album Household Name Track by Track: Exclusive
The post Momma Break Down New Album Household Name Track by Track: Exclusive appeared first on Consequence.
Momma, Consequence’s July Artist of the Month, return today (July 1st) with the release of their third studio LP, Household Name. Spearheaded by longtime friends Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, Household Name is the Brooklyn act’s fuzziest, catchiest album yet.
Initially bonding over a mutual obsession with Alex G, Friedman and Weingarten began writing music together while attending high school in California. Even as they graduated and subsequently attended colleges multiple states apart, the two continued creating under the name Momma.
Now rounded out with Aron Kobayashi Ritch, Momma continue to ascend with Household Name. Inspired by the absurdities of the music industry, different relationships, and the archetype of the ‘90s rockstar, Household Name finds Momma embracing the influence of groups like Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana.
“[The song] “Rockstar” was really the catalyst for the whole album,” Friedman and Weingarten tell Consequence. “It was the first song we demo’d and it was the first time I think we ever felt like a loud and booming band outside of our live set.”
Out on Polyvinyl Records and Lucky Number Music, Household Name captures the sound Momma have been after since their debut. Check out the album below, followed by Friedman, Weingarten, and Kobayashi Ritch’s breakdown of each track.
“Rip Off”:
We wrote this song after getting denied by a record label. It was kind of the first big opportunity that we got as a band, and the label was really trying to court us. This song is about getting denied and feeling as though we really had something to prove. — Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten
“Speeding 72”:
Aron had the chords for “Speeding” for a while and brought it into practice one day. It was an immediate feeling of “this is something special.” When we were writing the lyrics, we had this idea of two people meeting at a house show. They decide to go on a late night drive together and listen to music, knowing that they will never see each other again after that night. This idea of a short-lived romance was really exciting and tender, so we ended up writing the chorus in about ten minutes. — E.F., A.W. and Aron Kobayashi Ritch
“Medicine”:
This was the first song we all demo’d in NY together. The two guitar riffs were written by us about a year before we actually brought it to the band. When we wrote the first verse, we realized 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. — E.F. and A.W.
“Rockstar”:
“Rockstar” was really the catalyst for the whole album. It was the first song we demo’d and it was the first time I think we ever felt like a loud and booming band outside of our live set. We wrote the lyrics after watching Tenacious D with Allegra’s dad, and we just loved the idea that Kage and Jables’s main goal was just to be able to pay their rent through their rock—a very relatable idea. — E.F. and A.W.
“Motorbike”:
I wrote this song about a boy I had a crush on who really wanted nothing to do with me. 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.
I was also listening to a lot of country music at the time, so I wanted the song to almost have a western vibe to it. The music video was something I had envisioned for a super long time, from the time I first wrote it. The song feels very cinematic to me. — A.W.
“Tall Home”:
“Tall Home” has an interesting story because I wrote it when I was a freshman in college. I remember demoing it in my dorm room while my roommate was in class, and I wrote it after watching a pretty freaky and fascinating true crime documentary. The song at its core is really just about wanting validation from somebody. — E.F.
“Lucky”:
“Lucky” was the first positive love song I ever wrote. As the pandemic took over, my partner and I were separated for an unknown amount of time, which obviously left me thinking about them and missing them so much. I wanted to emphasize this new feeling I was feeling in my relationship, which was honestly just a feeling of full stability. I missed being the most pure version of myself with somebody — it’s a really unique experience feeling that for the first time. — E.F.
“Brave”:
I wrote this while I was recovering from a very messy breakup. I had the chords and a rough idea for a melody. I remember walking home from the grocery store, humming the melody to myself, and all of the sudden I just started saying to myself, “I just want you to stay.” I really really felt that at the time. I wrote the lyrics to the chorus on that walk home, because it’s what I was thinking/feeling at the time and I guess it just all happened to rhyme. The song is just about not wanting someone to leave, even if it means hurting yourself. It’s a false sense of bravery. — A.W.
“Callin Me”:
This is definitely the oldest track on the record. We pulled it from the vaults (a voice memo that was recorded in 2017) and decided to workshop it into a nice little pop song. We needed a song that was punchy, short and sweet. It was awesome to see this song turn into an album track, because it’s something that we started working on when we were still teenagers. — E.F.
“Spider”:
This was one of the first songs we demoed, but it kept evolving as we continued to write other songs. From the very beginning, I felt like the song needed to be treated differently and move beyond the band-in-a-room vibe. It features a lot more fun production elements like looping and sampling and breakbeats, as well as some more unusual sounds like a submarine sonar and the sound of us hitting an amps reverb tank. The more adventurous production on this song really opened up the possibilities for rest of the record. — A.K.R.
“No Stage”:
When I wrote this song, I was dealing with the idea of being alone, and I was picturing myself all alone on stage, playing a very heavy and powerful song. I thought it would be an interesting twist to kind of tap into this idea of a lonely/jaded rockstar, who’s willing to do anything to get famous, even if it means jeopardizing their mental health or interpersonal relationships. — A.W.
“No Bite”:
“No Bite” was a song written during a really early stage in my relationship. We weren’t too comfortable with each other just yet, and my mind was racing after several sour relationships from the past. I felt not unwanted, but not secure just yet, and with full transparency I just wanted to feel recognized by the person I was hanging out with every day. “No Bite” was born out of that feeling. — E.F.
Momma Break Down New Album Household Name Track by Track: Exclusive
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