Mother Mother - No Culture (Deluxe) (2017) FLAC

Playing smart and amiable folk-rock with an alternative edge, biting wit, and a jazzy sense of sophistication, Mother Mother hail from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and true to their name they started out as a family affair. Guitarist and singer Ryan Guldemond had been writing songs and wanted to start playing them at local clubs. Feeling the tunes needed harmonies, he asked his sister Molly Guldemond to join him. Molly invited her friend Debra-Jean Creelman to add her voice to the mix, and the group's three-part harmonies were soon wowing audiences. In late 2005, Mother Mother recorded and released a self-titled and self-released CD, with bassist Jeremy Page and drummer Kenton Loewen coming aboard as the group's new rhythm section. The album sold poorly, but earned enthusiastic reviews, and helped the band score some high-profile gigs, including the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Pop Montreal Festival, and spots opening for the Wailin' Jennys, the Dears, Think About Life, and the Cat Empire. Mother Mother's solid live shows and positive press earned the attention of the Canadian label Last Gang Records, who signed the band to a deal and made plans to re-release their debut album. Given a new mix, some additional overdubs, and two new songs, the album was renamed Touch Up and fared much better commercially the second time around, as well as generating a new batch of enthusiastic reviews upon its release in early 2007. The band then underwent some lineup changes: Ali Siadat replaced Loewen on drums for 2008's O My Heart, and later that year Creelman left the band, with Jasmin Parkin joining on keyboards soon after. With their third album, 2011's Eureka, the quintet broke through commercially, hitting the Billboard Canadian Album Top Ten, followed by 2012's The Sticks, which climbed to number 11. Their success led to a deal with Universal Music Canada, and the heavier, technology-themed synth rock sound of 2014's Very Good Bad Thing hit the Top Five and earned the band a nomination for Group of the Year at the 2015 Juno Awards. A U.S. release followed that spring on Def Jam Recordings. In November 2016 Mother Mother issued a new single, "The Drugs," in anticipation of their upcoming sixth studio long-player, No Culture, which arrived the following year. ~ Mark Deming & Marcy Donelson