You’re Mom – “*star damage*”

You’re Mom – “*star damage*” – Single Review

These guys.  These freakin’ guys know exactly what they’re doing.

Let’s try to move past the fact that they’re LITERALLY trying to kill guys like me with their choice of band name, which is not at all grammatically incorrect, even though it definitely feels like it is when you see it.  It’s part of this duo’s schtick of being joyfully abrasive, strange, and yes, dare I say FUN…and if they happen to bend the fuck on outta your mind in the process, that’s simply the price they’re willing to pay.

You’re a casualty of the war on normalcy if you don’t get what You’re Mom is all about.  #SorryNotSorry

I remember years and years ago when I grabbed tickets to System Of A Down here in Vancouver.  It was one of those big stadium shows…I am, to say the most, a very loose SOAD fan if you can even consider me a fan at all – and thanks to a savagely lackluster performance that night, they basically lost whatever part of me that was still hanging on.  They’re an irrelevant detail in this story, and they really only have themselves to blame for that – they know what they did…or more accurately, what they didn’t, that night.  Sadly, Vancouver is a fickle and fake fucking place when it comes to big names rolling through town.  The main headliner came out sleeping that night, and the roars of the crowd sadly rewarded them for it.

Anyhow.  Prior to them shuffling onto the stage demanding our affection, The Mars Volta had already torn SOAD a new one through an absolutely INCREDIBLE performance that I’ll never forget.  Watching the crowd that night, it was like Vancouver couldn’t have given less of a fuck if they tried, and they were witnessing innovative greatness beyond compare.  It was the entire reason I was there – I didn’t give two shits about seeing SOAD in comparison to finally being able to cross The Mars Volta off my bucket list.  THAT band, was everything I dreamed they’d be, and then some.  Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s dance moves, which included him throwing the mic OVER his shoulder & kicking it BACK over his shoulder with his heel completely blind…I mean…c’mon y’all…y’ain’t seen nothing like it.  Then of course there’s Omar Rodríguez-López and the amazingly badass way he chooses to play guitar…it’s straight outta this world.

BEFORE any of that though…I was introduced to an opener that I’d never heard of…a band that I’d be willing to bet money You’re Mom knows very well – they were called Hella.  I’d never seen anything like it before in my life…not live anyhow.  As chaotic and completely awesome as they seemed, they were actually so much more organized than most would have assumed…Hella is actually defined as ‘Math Rock’ – how fucking scary does THAT sound, right?  Normally you can’t catch me anywhere near math.  But between this astounding duo of Spencer Seim’s crazy guitars and Zach Hill’s mind-blowing drums, there they were, making an impression on me forever as the opening act that night, and hopefully they caught at least one other person’s attention in the stadium that could hold 20000 people in Vancouver, though it’s doubtful that happened based on all the aforementioned snobbery of their attitude overall.

I never forgot Hella though…and I still listen to them to this very day.  So believe me when I tell ya, that’s a band You’re Mom is certainly aware of.  If the similarities come naturally to them somehow, it’d be like lightning striking in the same place twice and extremely rare…I’d say chances are, both Cookie Ripper (Guitar) & Laundry Shredder (Drums) know the band’s catalog even more inside & out than I do.  Suffice it to say, these dudes can PLAY…this is ultimately, ‘Math Rock,’ yes indeed.  It’s a fucked up kind of math that would confound the most dedicated human calculators among us, but it is indeed based on intense math, timing, precision, and a penchant for out-weirding the rest of y’all out there in the scene.

And you can bet your sweet ass, I’m here for it.

Is You’re Mom gonna be for everyone out there?  Heck no!  Are they gonna give two shits about that?  Nope!  They’re gonna keep on being excellent, dedicated to their kickassery, and doing what they do.  If you wanna find a seat on their bandwagon, there will be plenty of room for you to join in on the mayhem and madness & they’ll be happy to have ya I’m sure.  Ideally, you’ll watch a track like “*star damage*” and be in awe of what they’re accomplishing, this early on into their career playing together – they’re in the beginning stages for sure, but make no mistake, they’re already killin’ it with professional chops.  Cookie Ripper, aka Alex Frondelli by his human name, is probably going to have to be the one to continually raise the stakes & be ready to be the unsung hero in this band of two – I think it’s gonna be very natural for folks watching and listening to be much more glued to the controlled insanity of Laundry Shredder, aka Michael Shapira on his previous employment forms, creates from the throne back there on the drums.  Don’t get it twisted & don’t get me wrong – they’re both wickedly skillful, and ultimately I think in the long run that’ll be recognized by those that ‘get it’ and are paying attention to how severely dedicated to the craft they’d have to be in order to do what they do.  They’re musician’s musicians, you feel me?  The mainstream rarely catches onto something this rad…and they might have to live with that, but it certainly shouldn’t stop them from making what is undeniably a form of audible art underneath all their tangible strangeness.  “*star damage*” instantly proves that both these guys have the talent to competitively hang with some of the very best out there, and presumably, like all of y’all, they’re going to get even better in what they do each and every day they’re out there doin’ it.  As it stands right now, they’re Hella good to say the least…they’ve got my attention…and if you WANNA BE COOL, they’ll get yours too.  A band like You’re Mom is going to continually challenge convention & seriously surprise ya.

Find out more about them at their official website:  https://www.youremomband.com

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