A whirling dervish of unbridled self-expression Bad Mothers Union unleash torrents of euphoric kraut-psych-rock as they reach to the heavens on their new album ‘Sore Losers’. Established in Kilkenny by front man Conor Kavanagh, during Bad Mothers Union existence they have focused on forging a community of like-minded individuals, bands and artists with the view that no crowd or venue is too small. Driven by the unshakeable need to share their artistic vision with the world. Eschewing the standard approach to membership the band act as a musical collective, thriving on collaboration and what each player’s voice brings to their sonic tapestry. Building on the success of two highly successful singles ‘God’s Intercom’ and ‘Cut in Half’ which caught the sharpened ears of Hot Press, IMRO, First Music Contact, Pure M Zine, Blowtorch Records, Blackmarket Playlists amongst other, new album ‘Sore Losers’ is a 5 song sonic exploration of the musical relationship between the band members. The blistering results of people, live, in a room playing music together. Speakers pushing air, cymbals crashing and drums exploding as they wring an unbridled expression of themselves from their instruments. Hypnotic, trance inducing rhythms, are juxtaposed against celestial spiralling guitars or swathes of noise and feedback punctuated by samples of mundane everyday life. All at once, the songs are a reflection of the world the band live in and pull the inner world out for all to hear. It feels organic, it feels real, unpretentious, unapologetic and absolutely vital in Ireland’s music scene today.
Eschewing the standard approach to membership the band act as a musical collective, thriving on collaboration and what each player’s voice brings to their sonic tapestry. The current line-up is Conor Kavanagh (vocals/guitar), Shay English (bass), James O’Neill (drums/percussion), Tim Flood(bass), Céin O’Dowd (guitar bouzouki) and Ethan Corcoran (synth/bass/vocals) while Shay English (bass/vocals/guitar), Joel Pitcher (guitar/bass/vocals), Michael Lanigan(guitar/bass/vocals) and Aaron Harbourne(drums/percussion) all contributed to the single. Drawing on influences musical and beyond the band cite Sonic Youth, The Osees, Mogwai and Primal Scream with some David Lynch adding a surrealist twist to the expansiveness of their music.
The album opens with ‘Jerusalem Jones’ and quickly establishes the mood for the album. Clocking in at 20 minutes and change, the band aren’t here to make radio friendly unit shifters or interested in bending to some algorithmic idea of what music should be. The song builds organically as if unfolding before us for the first time. Bass and drums lock in from the start as a hypnotic bass line keeps the track tethered to Earth, while drums give the track its drive, subtle changes in rhythm push parts forward and dictate the flow of energy. This solid foundation gives the guitars the time and space to explore multiple melodic ideas as they build to crescendo and pull back, or double down and ascend to further celestial heights. Music like this is designed to give you space to think, to let your mind wander and conjure up images that accompany the spiraling music. Reminiscent of bands like Earthless or Sleep, there’s a vastness to ‘Jerusalem Jones’ that just isn’t achievable in 4 minutes with a verse, chorus, verse structure.
Second track ‘BMU’ takes a complete 180. It’s all over before it’s began as the track burns past in under a minute a half. Musically, perhaps the only track to ever feature a Gnasher impression, reference Desperate Dan and then descend into noise rock/hardcore. The lyrics are described as the band’s mission statement, repeated until the tracks die into a fury of feedback and chorus pedals. Similar to a long lost Nirvana track you might find on an Outcestide compilation, crafted in some dank Seattle basement before Nevermind hit, unself-conscious and unpretentious.
‘God’s Intercom’ was initially conceived during a jam session, fittingly, in a Methodist Church in Kilkenny. From the outset ‘God’s Intercom’ is explosive, a single chord and a machine gun snare roll are all the introduction given before the band open the gates to the fury within. Aaron’s drums propel the track forward, while guitars swirl around each other, untethered like a wild rudderless rocket. We are giving some breathing space as the track drops down enough for Conor to intone ‘It was Christmas Day, pissing rain, Jammy called once again, Were those the days before the crash?’. He says the lyrics are stream of consciousness, borne out of the track evolving over many jams and many live shows, but pull in characters from his youth, coupled with insecurities, and self-doubt mixed with reminiscence about teenage boredom. There’s no ‘verse/chorus/verse’ here as the track naturally ebbs and flows, guitar melodies rise and fall, and unexpected hand claps remind people it’s cool to dance as we build to crescendo and before dropping down to recharge. The track features Peer Pleasure’s Brandon Murphy on vocals during the staccato middle section who’s lines ‘I’ve been looking at you while you’ve been laughing at me and I’ve been laughing at you this whole entire time.’ seem like how the conversation with God might actually go, should he ever answer that intercom. Elsewhere on the track Fiachra Carey plays saxophone, who, when recording his takes decided to dress like a member of ska legends, Madness. Because, of course.
Penultimate track ‘Cut in Half’ explores some of the bands more experimental post punk leanings. When the track was written, Michael Lanigan instructed Aaron to play a simple beat ad infinitum allowing the band to swirl around it. Making full use of the three guitars, as the track progresses they intertwine and melt together, becoming almost impossible to discern who is playing what. String scrapes become an essential part of the language for the track, creating tension as the band pulse behind. Sounding like signals captured from space, delayed guitars seem in conversation with each other as the two bass lines, act as an anchor and alternately adding to the chaos. During the recording, Shay, suffering from a bout of illness and without realizing the tape was rolling, in his frustration took to smashing his bass off the floor, creating an accidental new layer of noise for track. This unadulterated approach to song writing and recording is central to Bad Mothers Union, moving at the speed of inspiration the band aren’t hindered by more traditional ‘rock & pop’ approaches.
Closing out the album is ‘Golden O’, which acts almost as a sister song to ‘Jerusalem Jones’, two sides of the same coin. Originally conceived as an intro to another song, with the main riff played backwards, it outlasted it’s original home and grew into something of its own. Unhurried in allowing the music to find its way, there’s a heavy pschy influence here with more than an air of eastern mysticism. The track pulls you into it’s deep hypnosis, as the ever morphing guitars guide you through the trance. Small subtle changes grow and build into new ideas that blossom into another and into another. There are any number of sounds that rise up and fall away, delays that sound like signals screaming to Earth from space, fuzz guitars that whirr away under the track, the ever-present snare drum keeping you from losing yourself to the malleable atmosphere. The track ends with an acoustic guitar and the final haunting tones that bring us back down to earth.
‘Sore Losers’ is representative of Bad Mothers Union as a musical entity, in that, it is an unrelating infinite spiralling force of energy. Unperturbed by what the outside world may think. This is music that needs to be created, that could not be kept inside and speaks to both worldly and celestial forces. Bad Mothers Union create moments of transcendence, sounds to get lost in, a blissful euphoria all concocted by a voice, drums, bass, guitar and some ska saxophone. A band that remains true to themselves and in that create their own gravitational pull. ‘Sore Losers’ feels like only a glimpse into the wider world of Bad Mothers Union.
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