WBRS, if you’re reading this, I have the perfect band to play in Chum’s. Boston-based and incredibly talented, Mom Rock is the band to have on your radar. I first heard Mom Rock at the 2019 Boston Book Festival, planned on only staying for one song, then stayed for two, then three. This band is the next big thing.
Most of the members—Curtis Heimburger, Josh Polack, Wilson Reardon—met in their freshman year at Berklee College of Music. They later added Tara Maggiuli to complete the sound. Together, these four make a terrific rock band.
Mom Rock posted their first single, “Conversation,” to Spotify in January 2019, and they’ve already accumulated over 20,000 monthly listeners. (Over 3,000 of these listeners are from the last week alone!) According to their biography, their sound is “inspired by bands such as Weezer, Talking Heads and Catfish and the Bottlemen.” Almost all of their songs have a heavy rock sound, complete with lyrics lamenting about the struggles of young adulthood.
“Conversation” alone has exploded on Spotify, truly a feat for such a small band. Using general lyrics, this song can apply—and therefore appeal—to so many different aspects of the life of a college student. This song takes listeners through the psyche of a struggling individual, with lyrics discussing bad decisions and actions made due to crumbling mental health. The track then goes on to acknowledge that even if they talk about the negative situation, nothing is going to get better. It’s going to stay bad no matter what. Despite the bleak lyrics, “Conversation” is fast and energetic, a perfect song to dance around to. I can so easily imagine jumping around to this at a concert (WBRS, please!). I can imagine it even better in the outro of the track which mimics a crowd screaming “Mom Rock” repeatedly. Self plug or prophecy, who can say?
My favorite track from Mom Rock is “Grand Romantic Life,” the group’s second single. This song edges into more of a pop punk sound, but it is stunning nonetheless. It’s one of those tracks that I have to listen to over and over again—one play is never enough. “Grand Romantic Life” complains about the daily struggles of existing: missing alarms, car troubles, wanting more than what you have. These yearning lyrics paired with a fast-paced beat create an anthem for young adults everywhere.
What I like most about this song is the very clear image that it paints. From the opening line, this song follows a working woman as she goes about her week, tracking all the little mishaps that come with being human. These images are completely contrasted with her fantasy world where she’s rich and influential and the kind of person everyone aspires to be.
The band has been putting out a lot of singles recently. The cover art for each of the singles is the same design—a baby with rainbow shadows—which makes me hope that Mom Rock has an album on the way. Nothing has been confirmed by the band, but I’m optimistic.
The most recent drop showed a new side of the band. “Flinching (My Side of Things)” is a sad song, slower than all of their other tracks. The longest song this band has released at almost six minutes long, this track highlights a relationship that’s falling apart. “Flinching” is a plea of a song, a cry for help. “Tell me without flinching, would you ever leave?” starts the chorus, giving the listeners a virtual punch in the gut.
Mom Rock even has a call back to an earlier release of theirs in the song. During the bridge, the volume drops to practically a whisper, allowing the band to play with the production. As the lead vocals lament, the background vocals start singing the chorus from “Intheinbetween” a single that dropped just a week prior to “Flinching.” This idea comes back in the last minute or so of the song, but now it’s a mix of all of their prior tracks. The sound this creates is kind of chaotic, but that fits the vibe of this track and the band as a whole. Mom Rock tells stories about being a mess, but never once do they sound like a mess. I can’t wait to see where this band goes next… hopefully Brandeis?
