Review: Single Mothers – “Negative Qualities”

 
 
 

Single Mothers
Negative Qualities

Dine Alone Records – October 7th 2014
By Joshua Khan (@blaremag)
Find it at: iTunes | Insound | Amazon

 

8.0




On paper, Single Mothers’ Drew Thomson seems like another oppressed urban dweller imprisoned by stereotypes and Perfect Youth, but he’s not. The band’s 28-year-old frontman is an Al Bundy-like wordsmith and rest assured his snarky commentary on Negative Qualities is what separates their proper debut from their Secret Voice glory daze. If he’s not taking shots at thesis kids that have a FOMO problem (“Marbles”), he’s making a fuss about fake rock ‘n roll (“Overdose”), blacking out (“Half-Lit”), a daddy’s little girl-gone-wild (“Patricide”), and genuinely trying to make it feel like romance (“Ketamine”). The banter’s a bit jarring at first, but it clicks with the group’s swan dive into infectiously breathless, Bronx-aged punk that isn’t afraid to slow it down or throw the kitchen sink at you for 51 seconds straight. Need more coercing? “Crooks” and “Money” are defining moments for Single Mothers and they’re polar opposites – a trait that could only come from living in a college town known for drunkenly setting news vehicles on fire.

Listen: “Crooks”, “Ketamine”, “Marbles”, “Feel Shame” || Watch: “Half-Lit” (Official Video)

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