The Mommyheads is the American indie pop band that has followed their own path ever since the group was founded in 1987. The band’s members were still going to high school back home in New York, when they began exploring pop music with completely free reins. An inevitable comparison is found in the English band XTC, where The Mommyheads have the same sense of beautiful melodies combined with a desire to break what’s expected.
The Mommyheads released a number of records on various small labels, played extensively on the legendary CBGB in their hometown and reached an artistic high with the album Bingham’s Hole (1995).
Rumors of the band began to spin and they signed a contract with Geffen.
The meeting with the music industry’s giants became a sharp turn for the imaginative and enthusiastic collection of musicians. Geffen had financial problems and the band got fired even before the self-titled album reached the turntables. A time of meetings and lawyers followed and the band closed down after a last gig in February 1988.
But that rumor, it lived on. All over the world there were now fans, who set The Mommyheads as their favorites. And the fact that the band disappeared from the scene did not change that, quite the contrary.
In the end, it even became obvious to the band members, who since the closure had met very sporadically, that there was a strong interest in the band showing any sign of life.
Said and done. Ten years after the death of the first incarnation, The Mommyheads resurrected. Since 2008, new records have been released and they have toured extensively – not least in Sweden, where the band have a host of especially dedicated fans.
Members of The Mommyheads
- Adam Elk, vocals, guitar, keyboards
- Dan Fisherman, drums and vocals
- Michael Holt, keyboards and vocals
- Jason McNair, bass
- Jackie Simons, guitar, keyboards, vocals
Adam Elk is actually called Adam Cohen, but appears under an artist name to avoid being mistaken for Leonard Cohen‘s son (which he is not).
Discography
- Acorn (1989)
- Coming Into Beauty (1992)
- Flying Suit (1994)
- Bingham’s Hole (1995)
- The Mommyheads (1997)
- You’re Not A Dream (2008)
- Flying Suit, Remastered (2010)
- Finest Specimens (2010)
- Delicate Friction (2011)
- Vulnerable Boy (2012)
- Soundtrack To The World’s End (2018)
- Bingham’s Hole, Remixed + Remastered (2019)
- Future You (2019)
- New Kings of Pop (2020)
- Age of Isolation (2021)
- Genius Killer (2022)