Momma 'Two of Me' LP

Two Of Me is an ambitious concept album by the budding grunge four-piece, Momma, made up of fictional vignettes dealing with morality, youth, and punishment, that songwriters Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten have populated with tragic heroes from their imagination. “The Bug House represents this sort of underground purgatory or hell that people are sent to as punishment,” Weingarten explains. “Two Of Me’s songs are about coming to terms with the side of you within yourself that is maybe capable of darker things.” Momma’s second full length unfolds like a small town drama, where characters like video stringers and young lovers experience poetic justice in carnivalesque settings, detailed through Friedman and Weingarten’s illustrative lyrics. On Momma's sophomore album, the band explores some of their heaviest sounds to date, creating dense arrangements to match their complex storytelling.

Two Of Me’s opener “Bug House” sets the stage for the record, with its expressive guitar tones and brooding mood. The album’s more abrasive moments like “Derby,” which alludes to the anxiety of a Jockey in a fixed horse race, are balanced by melodic ballads like “Double Dare,” which follows a romantic pair pining for a world away from their violent hometown. Inspired by songwriters like Kim Deal and Elliott Smith and bands like Ovlov and Throwing Muses, Momma has mastered their own dynamic songwriting and gripping lyrics on Two Of Me, creating a record that feels both familiar and intriguing.