Purchase’s Adult Mom have been playing and touring for upwards of two-and-a-half years now, and in that time they’ve released an acclaimed EP and a full length. “Survival”, the first single off of their newest effort, the upcoming Momentary Lapse Of Happily, is a perfect introduction to the penetrating wit of Steph Knipe’s songwriting; it is at once both effacing and conspicuous, deeply self-aware and mercilessly honest, refusing to cop to any imagined sense of what it should be. This is rendered wonderfully clear within the first few moments of the track. Knipe’s opening line, “I don’t know if my mom loves me anymore/ She says that I am changing, that I’m not what she bargained for” is one thing to behold, but following it with “I set fire to abusers like a war” showcases Knipe’s blistering ability to combine an openness about the world with recognition that sometimes terrible shit happens. It is something that nearly everyone can empathize with.
In a recent interview with Stereogum, Knipe said that, “It’s weird because, suddenly, I’m a “queer pop” band. Because everyone in Adult Mom is queer, and it’s part of our experience, so we’ve been super public about it.” It is that form of wry, but pointed feelings that “Survival” and most of Adult Mom’s work hones in on. All of this is coupled with engaging musicality that is both clever and catchy. Never predictable, and always pointed, Adult Mom is making pop-inflected music that inspires on all fronts.
Momentary Lapse Of Happily is due out July 28 on Tiny Engines. You can listen to “Survival” below.
