Posted in: What's New | No Comments | February 10, 2022
With the world roiled by fear and division borne out of politics, economic uncertainty, and terrorism, perhaps there is no better time for the arrival of music underpinned by the belief that love wins.
Into the maw of anxiety comes Mother Mother with No Culture, which posits that society uses negative byproducts of culture — such as narcissism, hedonism, and addiction — as a means to nurture its fears of the unknown. “If we can strip back the culture, or the masks, attitudes, and stories that feed our differences, and just connect as people we might be more united at a time where we really need to be,” says Mother Mother’s frontman, guitarist, and lyricist Ryan Guldemond. The album was co‐produced by Brian Howes, Ryan Guldemond and Jason “JVP” Van Poederooyen.
With tracks like “Baby Boy”, Guldemond treats the verses as a confessional box, admitting his penchant for self‐destruction, deceit, and diehard adolescence, while Molly Guldemond (his sister, fellow founding member, and designer of all of the band’s album art) takes the lead with a melodic intervention, “baby boy, baby brother, we’re losing you to the gutter”. The idea of lineage and relationships really comes through on the closing track “Family” where Molly and Ryan harmonize on an endearing account of the idiosyncrasies and unconditionality inherent to kinship. “The Drugs”, the band’s driving first single is an address to a lover, deeming her the ultimate high and antidepressant, while “Letter”, Mother Mother’s first piano ballad, nostalgically recruits the age old theme of unrequited love by way of handwritten loneliness.
On the cover, adeptly reflecting NO CULTURE’s visceral themes, you’ll find a painted‐white baby doll dabbling in black paint, depicting the immediate imprint society makes on us once we enter the world. And you can hear this struggle to free oneself from this “stamp” chronicled in the anthemic and upbeat “Love Stuck”, where Guldemond bemoans a condition of emotional paralysis by virtue of over thinking (“I’ve got my love stuck in my head… I’ve got my love stuck in my throat”). But, this frustrated self‐diagnosis is not without hope for recovery (“I’ve got to keep my love in my heart… I’ve got to give my love to my soul, and let go”). This idea of stripping oneself of cultural affectation in order to return to their true essence is embodied in every track on this record.
The band also announced their Canadian headlining tour, which will kick off in Moncton on February 23. The tour will see Mother Mother hitting twenty‐five cities and travelling from coast to‐ coast with their final dates being in their hometown of Vancouver with four nights at the historic Commodore Ballroom.
