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Apr 04, 2025 Web Exclusive By Andy Von Pip

Halfway through Momma’s fourth album, Welcome to My Blue Sky, “How to Breathe” shifts from brooding introspection to towering catharsis. It’s a moment that encapsulates everything that makes this record a triumphant leap forward for the Brooklyn quartet.

After the success of 2022’s Household Name, Momma could have played it safe, churning out more of the same ’90s-indebted indie rock. Instead, co-founders Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten have pushed their sound outward while digging deeper inward, crafting their most fully realized work to date.

Primarily recorded live with bandmate Aron Kobayashi Ritch producing, it’s an album that feels both raw and meticulously constructed. The band started each song as an acoustic sketch before fleshing it out with drummer Preston Fulks and Kobayashi Ritch, a process that pays off beautifully. These tracks surge with a natural dynamism that feels earned rather than engineered.

The album eases in with the ethereal “Sincerely” before cranking up the energy with the Breeders-esque “I Want You (Fever),” replete with an earworm hook that lingers for days. “Rodeo” perfectly balances fuzzy distortion and crystal-clear melody, while “Bottle Blonde” locks into a propulsive head-nodding groove. Then there’s “Stay All Summer,” which just might be the most perfectly constructed three minutes and 28 seconds of power pop they’ve ever recorded.

What’s most striking is how confidently Momma wade into shoegaze territory. “Last Kiss,” for example, conjures a swirling Loveless-esque soundscape without veering into pastiche, while the nostalgic “Ohio All the Time” somehow manages to be both wistful and urgent—no small feat.

Lyrically, the album plays out like a shared diary between Friedman and Weingarten, chronicling a summer of upheaval marked by heartbreak and eventual healing. Their newfound vulnerability adds weight to the crashing guitars and soaring choruses, making the album’s emotional peaks hit even harder.

By the time closer “My Old Street” fades out, a poignant reflection on childhood that lands with devastating precision, it’s clear that Momma have crafted something very special. Welcome to My Blue Sky is an object lesson in how a band can expand their horizons without losing the bite that made them so compelling in the first place. (www.mommaband.com)

Author rating: 8.5/10