Momma’s second record is an
ambitious concept album, which perplexes lyrically and stretches the musical styles from which it borrows. Those musical threads reach back to the 90s,
mixing the angular indie of Sleater Kinney or Cat
Power with the more introspective end of the Seattle grunge
scene. Two of Me is often a languid record, with drawled vocals
and patches of mellow, building dread. To the extent that it has hooks, they are the type that worm rather than grab. Lyrically, good luck following the concept album
narrative: a brawl at a provincial carnival that somehow results in various
unsavoury folk being sent to the ‘Bug House’, a purgatory of sorts (I think).
But it doesn’t really matter – the consistently weird lyrics certainly act to
unsettle, and you don’t need to grasp the full narrative to benefit from the
tone it creates. The result is a record that, while built on a few very familiar
musical foundations, is thematically and sonically unique.