Household Name re-establishes Momma's vitality and extends their countercultural charge

With Brooklyn-based Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten at the wheel, Aron Kobayashi Ritch’s production savvy would subsequently be enlisted – a collaboration that culminated in the ambitiously-themed second record Two of Me. Cast through the lens of formative LA origins as well as personal highs and lows, Household Name sets itself apart from Two of Me's emphasis on fictional snapshots and moral judgement – the Lucky Number-signed pair plying a more open insight into the intricacies of their own individual background and professional high jinks.

Momma continue to amalgamate nudging humour, sincerity and stylistic self-awareness in this respect. “Tall Home” blares with scuzzy Hüsker Dü-leaning riffs, cagey melodies anchoring tracks beneath a healthy layer of distortion, while “Speeding 72” navigates a highway-venturing vignette of a gig-initiated relationship, splintered with spontaneity and a sense of jaded recognition: “We’re faster getting nowhere / Baby we could go there / Shining on a secret avenue / Hear the burning rubber fanfare”. Emotions range between whirlwind exuberance and resignation to the temporal nature of it all, grounded in realism rather than faux sugar-coated pretence.

The itinerant venue-strewn lifestyle and vagaries of line-up changes find self-deprecating, near parodical reference on “Rockstar”, where Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins gets a mention; “Spider”, alternatively, weaves a metaphorical web set to turn of the century indie nods – persisting to the sunset-faded solo that crests “No Bite”.

Earning fans in the form of tastemaker-touted US touring partners Wet Leg, Momma in some ways negotiate similar waters to the Isle of Wight-hailing two-piece, upscaling familiar shades of previous decades with a generation-spanning commonality. Household Name re-establishes the pair’s vitality to this extent, avoiding a potential slump in extending the countercultural charge that cemented the appeal of their previous LP's.