According to the Urban Dictionary a power trio is defined as a “(noun) A rock band consisting of three musicians, usually a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. This common power trio format was developed in the 1960s by Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience and continues to be popular today”. Notable acts such as The Jam and The Police continued on with the tradition throughout the late 70s and early 80s as did Canada’s fav prog rock sons Rush. In the 1990s famed Seattle power trio Nirvana helped spawn an entirely new sub genre of Rock N Roll while carrying on in the custom of their predecessors. Which brings us to Fredericton, New Brunswick, ground zero to one of Canada’s most exciting new bands.
In the wake of their previous releases dating back to 2013 with the 5 track digital album debut Diamonds & Gold followed by the 2014 Problems EP and 2018 full length Baby Teeth Fredericton, New Brunswick’s Motherhood (affectionately known to many as The Mums) consisting of Brydon Crain (guitar/vox) Penelope Stevens (bass/keys/vox) and Adam Sipkema (drums) released their latest opus Dear Bongo, (apostrophe included) this past March 1, 2019, embarking on an exhaustive 26 date North American tour the very next day. UK tour dates followed with support shows in Liverpool, Brighton, Edinburgh and Ramsgate. Next on the travel itinerary is hipster music mecca Sackville, New Brunswick for the latest instalment of SappyFest August 2-4, 2019.
Sounding much like a lunch bag mashup of obscure 90s Athens, Georgia duo Chickasaw Mudd Puppies mixed with just a dash of Seattle, Washington’s The Presidents Of The United States Of America (Peaches, Lump) and some Frank Zappa to flavour, it’s no wonder the Music New Brunswick award nominated Motherhood choose to identify what they do as avant-rock. 9 tracks and 33 minutes later Dear Bongo, is a bold and captivating statement from one of the freshest sounding bands to emerge out of Canada’s east coast music scene in decades.
Rating 8/10
Star Rating 4/5
2019 Song Of The Day Club 13/52