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Apr 19, 2022 By Mark Redfern Photography by Sophie Hur

Brooklyn-based band Momma have announced a new album, Household Name, and shared a new song from it, “Speeding 72,” via a video for the single. Household Name is due out July 1 via Polyvinyl, their first album for the label. Check out the “Speeding 72” video below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, as well as the band’s upcoming tour dates.

Household Name includes “Medicine,” a new song the band shared in November, and “Rockstar,” a new song they shared in February that was one of our Songs of the Week.

The band is led by singers/guitarists Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, but “Speeding 72” was co-written with Momma’s Aron Kobayashi Ritch. Madeline Leshner and Zach Stone directed the “Speeding 72” video.

A press release describes the single in more depth: “The song details a fast burning romance between two kids who meet at a show and go for a ride—its chorus referencing Pavement’s ‘Gold Soundz’ with nostalgic admiration.”

“‘Speeding 72’ is probably the most collaboratively written song on the new record. We wanted it to be the sort of summertime anthem that you can turn on during a drive to impress your crush,” the band collectively explains in the press release. “The most important part of the production was setting the right mood to transport the listener. The song starts with Aron getting into his car (which is featured on the album cover), and then turning on the ignition.”

Leshner had this to say about co-directing the video: “I knew we had to find the perfect car since that’s such a big part of the song. While in pre-production, I saw this Volvo parked on my block and knew we had to have it, so I left a note on the windshield and serendipitously that worked out!”

Household Name is the follow-up to 2020’s Two of Me. Polyvinyl is releasing it in North America, with Lucky Number Music putting it out in the rest of the world. Kobayashi Ritch produced the album, which was mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Emily Lazar (The Killers, Maggie Rogers). It is Momma’s first full-band collaboration recorded in a proper studio.

Weingarten had this to say about the album in the press release: “I went through a lot of changes as we were writing and demoing this record. The biggest was that I was going through a really messy breakup, which was motivation to make this record the best it could be. I really felt like I had something to prove. I wanted to write about heartbreak, which isn’t something we normally focus on in our lyrics. Etta and I ended up writing several songs on our own because we were having two really different experiences during this time. It’s the first record where we each have three songs that we sing solo on.”

Friedman also had this to say: “After making Two of Me, I think this album couldn’t help but to get personal. This was the first time all four of us worked together throughout the entire process of demoing, recording, etc. We’ve never had the luxury to work this intimately together for such a prolonged amount of time.”

Friedman adds: “There have been so many times where I have begun to write words to a tune, just out of pure emotion from something I experienced, and I don’t actually realize how I feel about the situation until I listen back to the lyrics after a few days. So, when an artist gets personal in their music, it seems to me that the listeners and the artist are having the same experience at once, which is a better understanding of the writer as a whole. That’s what I want these songs to give to the listener: a true introduction to all sides of Momma.”

Household Name Tracklist:

1. Rip Off
2. Speeding 72
3. Medicine
4. Rockstar
5. Motorbike
6. Tall Home
7. Lucky
8. Brave
9. Callin Me
10. Spider
11. No Stage
12. No Bite

Momma Tour Dates:

05/06 - Leeds, UK @ Headrow House %
05/07 - Glasgow, UK @ Road To The Great Escape
05/10 - London, UK @ Brixton Windmill
05/12 - Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
05/13 - Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
05/14 - Manchester, UK @ YES
08/12 - Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall !
08/16 - New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place !
08/17 - Asbury Park, NJ @ The Stone Pony !
08/19 - Richmond, VA @ The National !
08/20 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa !
08/21 - Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre !
08/23 - Orlando, FL @ The Beacham Theater !
08/24 - Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor !
08/26 - Birmingham, AL @ Saturn !
08/27 - Knoxville, TN @ The Mill & Mine !
08/28 - Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall !
08/30 - Bloomington, IL @ The Castle Theatre !
08/31 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre !
09/02 - Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall !
09/03 - St Louis, MO @ The Pageant !
09/04 - Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre !
09/06 - Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre !
09/07 - Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre !
09/09 - Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore !
09/12 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall #
09/13 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground #
09/14 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake #
09/16 - Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village #
09/17 - Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club #
09/20 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza %
09/21 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios %
09/23 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop %
09/24 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo %
09/25 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room %
09/27 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar %
09/30 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk - Indoors ^
10/01 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links ^
10/02 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall - Upstairs ^
10/04 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl ^
10/07 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s #
10/08 - New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg #

% w/ ​ Illuminati Hotties
! w/ Snail Mail
# w/ waveform*
% w/ Pardoner
^ w/ teethe

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