Artist of the Month is an accolade given to an up-and-coming artist or group who is poised for the big time. For July 2022, we’re celebrating Momma as they take a swing at fame with their new album Household Name.
“I wanna be your next big thing.” So opens Household Name, the latest album from ‘90s revivalists and DIY champs Momma (out Friday, July 1st). And though they seem intimidatingly cool — like success in the music industry would be, like, totally whatever, man — the sentiment is far from ironic. Even if they don’t always take themselves too seriously, Momma is taking the namesake of their record very seriously. They’re going to be household names, or die trying.
Inspired by endless label meetings headed nowhere, thousand-dollar-suit execs saying nothing, and a type of rock stardom that no longer exists, Household Name finds Momma poking fun at the absurdities of the industry without losing hope that they can succeed within it.
Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, the founders and creative core of Momma, have been making art together since high school, keeping the band together even while attending colleges that were multiple states apart. For them, the question is why go through such tremendous effort just to pretend like success wouldn’t, at the very least, be kinda cool?
“If you’re making art in any way and you’re not striving for success, you’re just lying to yourself a little bit,” Friedman tells Consequence in the video interview above.
“I feel like the most punk thing of all time is quitting your day job,” Weingarten adds. “Like, fuck working a nine-to-five or working at a fucking restaurant, I’m going to play my guitar and pay my bills.”
