LOS ANGELES, CA- If you’ve ever spent late nights parked under orange streetlight haze, thumbing mixtape cassettes and brooding over heartbreaks real or imagined, Momma’s “Rodeo” is going to hit you square in the nostalgia. And that’s not to say this band is coasting on the fumes of the past—far from it. With “Rodeo,” the Brooklyn-based outfit doesn’t just channel the 90s; they embody its rawest emotional tensions and translate them into a love letter for now.
“Rodeo” was my entry point into the world of Momma—a band I now realize has been steadily building a catalog of emotionally rich, distortion-laced anthems for years. There’s something instantly familiar about their sound, and it didn’t take long for the song’s late-’90s alt-pop rock undercurrent to strike a chord deep in my memory. The pummeling guitar lines, sweet-but-knowing vocal melodies, and that slacker-angst swagger brought me back to a time when MTV2 still mattered and mixtapes were declarations of identity. It was the kind of track that made me pause mid-scroll, turn up the volume, and go digging through their discography.
That sonic intuition I had—of Momma tapping into the ghosts of grunge and power-pop past—wasn’t just nostalgia playing tricks on me. A recent Rolling Stone article confirmed my hunch, noting that the band “revel in their Nineties rock obsession.” And a two-year-old Pitchfork piece echoed the sentiment, calling out their distinct slacker sensibility. There’s a clear reverence in Momma’s music for that era’s emotional detachment and effortless cool, but they elevate it with crisp production and intentional songwriting. The vocals may drift in with a nonchalant tone, but the polish of the arrangements and the raw urgency of the lyrics speak volumes. It’s a balance that feels rare: a band that captures a mood I didn’t even realize I’d been missing—and makes it feel brand new again.
The latest single from Welcome to My Blue Sky—out this Friday via Polyvinyl and Lucky Number—“Rodeo” finds songwriters Allegra Weingarten (she/her) and Etta Friedman (they/them) straddling the blurred line between indifference and intensity with a deftness that betrays their years. The track is a heady cocktail of fuzzed-out guitar riffs, sugar-sweet melodies, and lyrical knife-twists delivered in that perfectly listless vocal tone—like they care deeply, but would never say it outright. It’s that “I don’t care, but I really do” vibe that every flannel-clad 90s teen tried to perfect in a mirror.
“Spitting out / And I’m dusting myself off / Every second counts / And you’ll see what I’ve become,” they sing—lyrics steeped in emotional urgency, but delivered with a shrug. It’s that slacker-angst dichotomy, and it’s absolutely irresistible.
Directed by Richard Phillip Smith, the accompanying video smartly literalizes the track’s emotional whiplash. Weingarten and Friedman stand grounded at the centre of an ice rink while a figure skates chaotic circles around them, pursued by a bull. It’s surreal, yes, but it’s also painfully relatable—feeling like the world’s moving too fast while you’re stuck processing something that’s already happened. The imagery taps directly into the emotional DNA of the song, reinforcing Momma’s knack for storytelling that’s both cinematic and grounded.
What’s more impressive is how clean and intentional everything sounds. Produced by Aron Kobayashi Ritch (he/him) and recorded live at Brooklyn’s Studio G, Welcome to My Blue Sky may be rooted in distortion and grunge, but it’s filtered through a pop sensibility that gives it clarity and shape. There’s a discipline here, a maturity that feels earned—not just copied from a flannel-era playbook.
For a band recently anointed as *The New York Times*’ “Artists To Watch of 2025,” Momma are proving they’re not just worth watching—they’re worth turning up loud and leaving on repeat.
If “Rodeo” is your first ride into Momma’s sonic world, saddle up. You’re in for a beautifully bruising trip. Follow Momma on Facebook, Instagram and X.
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Momma 2025 Tour Dates:
4/23 – Louisville, KY – Big Four Lawn Waterfront Park +
4/25 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner ^
4/26 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall ^
4/28 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West ^
4/29 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East ^
4/30 – Memphis, TN – Growlers ^
5/2 – Houston, TX – Last Concert Cafe ^ !
5/3 – Fort Worth, TX – Tulips ^ !
5/4 – Austin, TX – Mohawk ^ !
5/6 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
5/9 – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre *
5/10 – San Francisco, CA – August Hall *
5/12 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater *
5/13 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret *
5/14 – Seattle, WA – Neumos *
5/16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Block Party
5/16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge (KBP After Party) *
5/17 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theater *
5/19 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line *
5/20 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall *
5/22 – Toronto, ON – Axis *
5/23 – Ottawa, ON – Club SAW *
5/24 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount *
5/28 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair * [SOLD OUT]
5/29 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis * [SOLD OUT]
5/30 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer *
5/31 – New York, NY – Warsaw * [SOLD OUT]
06/04 – 08 – Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound
06/12 – 15 – Porto, PT – Primavera Sound Festival
06/13 – London, UK – Outbreak Festival
06/14 – Manchester, UK – Outbreak Festival
+ with The Verve Pipe
^ with support from Brennan Wedl
! with support from On Being An Angel
* with support from Wishy
