(Self-released, cassette, digital)
Against the backdrop of steady rainfall, MOMDAD make an entrance befitting a film-noir detective on their debut album, MotherFather. Drenched in atmosphere, opening track “January Rain” simmers with regret amid midnight-in-the-city sax solos and singer-keyboardist Owen Leavey’s tortured vocals.
“There’s a time and a place for all that’s been done,” Leavey belts out in a soulful, searching melody. “There’s a time and a place where I’m not the one / Who’s tossin’ and turnin’ / And dreamin’ and schemin’ / and thinking of ways to get out.”
The record is as heavy on vibes as it gets. And as debuts go, MotherFather is fully formed and polished — no small feat for a band that only assembled a year ago. “Write Me, Rachael,” the album’s first single, is an excellent primer for MOMDAD’s sound. Take Lake Street Dive’s R&B-inflected indie pop; throw in a dash of blues and jazz rock, some jam-adjacent traits, and a penchant for horn-driven dynamics; and the result is a sound bursting at the seams. The pulsing funk of “S.A.A.W.” feels poised to explode, but the band keeps a tight leash, ready to shift back into slow jams at a moment’s notice.
Leavey, a Renaissance man who is also an actor and photographer, boasts a deeply resonant and melodically expansive voice. It often takes center stage, with power and emotional immediacy similar to that of Future Islands’ Samuel Herring. Leavey is a young man who wrote these songs in his twenties, so it’s unsurprising that much of MotherFather is suffused with lust and longing, not unlike the smoldering horniness of early Dave Matthews fare.
“Why don’t you kiss me / With those lips?” Leavey sings on “jojo.” “Why don’t you show me / With those hips?” he continues as bassist Eamon Lynch and drummer Matthew Jadin link up in a steady, pulsing groove.
And what goes better with sexy than spooky? On “The Line,” MOMDAD conjure a sort of gothic funk-folk, brimming with demons, howling wolves and the washing of hands in the River Styx. Sarah Berry’s slashing cello and guitarist Sean Ryan’s blues licks inject the perfect amount of menace.
The record closes with birdsong on “Something Like You,” evoking the promise of a clear summer morning in contrast to the gloomy downpour of “January Rain.” Here Leavey puts aside past heartbreaks and finds love again, imparting a sense of closure to MotherFather that feels wholly earned.
MotherFather is available at momdadband.bandcamp.com and on major streaming services. MOMDAD play at Light Club Lamp Shop in Burlington on Friday, September 11.
This article appears in September 2 • 2026.
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