The Mommyheads’ 1997 self-titled major label album may have prompted the band’s dissolution in the 90s but it remains an unsung gem of immaculate pop songwriting from a perennially under-appreciated group of musical mavericks. While they never abandoned their eccentricities,
The Mommyheads
showcased another other side of their music in full color: a penchant for heartbreaking melody. Songs like “
Jaded
” and “
Monkey
” are concise yet cutting, confessional in their wit and wrapped in ethereal, melancholic harmonies and chord structures. “
In the Way
” and “
Would He Know?
” find the group blasting through cathartic power pop, both songs just shy of three minutes and dazzling in their brisk delivery of melodic riches — they demand repeated listens because they’re over before you know it. And such is the album: it represents the Mommyheads at their most succinct and the results are genuinely unpretentious and thoroughly addictive.
