Sometimes you hear an artist that you have never heard of and realize they fill a void in your music taste. That’s exactly what Mamalarky did on their debut self-titled album Mamalarky. Mamalarky is an Austin-based indie rock band that spent two years perfecting their debut album. Throughout their 30-minute debut record, they test the waters in multiple styles and subgenres of indie rock allowing them to create a cohesive but sonically diverse record.
The record starts with the in-your-face and exhilarating “Fury” which sonically sounds like going 137 miles per hour in a school zone. The song’s heavily distorted electric guitars play through the entire song. The song feels like serotonin being injected straight into the veins of the listener and forces them to have a smile on their face. While I was on my first listen, I knew this was going to be a fun album. The album proceeds to take a hard turn left on the groovy and mellow “You Make Me Smile” which is a simple love song and sounds similar to an Alex G song. The piano in the background allows for more elements to come to light while creating a laid-back vibe opposite from the opener. “Schism Trek” meets in the middle of the first two tracks. It is not as slow as “You Make Me Smile” but the guitars aren’t overloading the listener like on “Fury”. As simple as the lyricism was on this track and the tracks before it, it allowed for the lyrics to easily be memorable and allow for the vocals to not be at the forefront of the track and fit in with the guitars and drums. “Cosine” is a spacey and more psychedelic track than previously. I thought it was cool to end the track with an organ-esque piano solo while the guitar and bass echoed into the background elevating the track to another level. “Big Trouble” is another heavy track taking the elements of lo-fi rock and adding a tad bit of shoegaze influence as well. It also has warbly effects throughout the entire song sounding similar to a warped record. “Hero” is another one of the slower songs on the album but sounds like a perfect song for the beach or to drink a morning cup of coffee and watch the sunrise. It creates a relaxing and soothing atmosphere that Livvy Bennett’s vocals enhance. “Almighty Heat” is led by groovy synthesizers that sound like they were directly sampled and ripped from Mort Garson’s Plantasia. “Singalong” is only a minute and a half and features no vocals. The guitar that is at the vanguard of the track has no defined rhythm and creates this maze of a song that the listener has to follow. It sounds like what would happen if artificial intelligence tried to write a guitar riff. The track is still really cool and is a good interlude to the rest of the album. Livvy Bennett’s vocal performance on “Drug Store Model” sounds almost like it is in a mocking tone. The last leg of the track turns it into a rich neo-psychedelia influenced jam session from the band, but it leaves me wanting an entire track to sound similar to that just from how much they perfected that style. “Don’t Laugh at Me” closes the album with a soft and slow rock song as the guitars float away in the background and create a deep atmospheric vibe. The album closes on a guitar solo fade out and closes the album at the polar opposite from the beginning putting the listener at ease.
Mamalarky shows its potential as a band with their self-titled debut. It is a compact 10 song album that varies from heavy guitar-based jams with a splash of punk influence to lo-fi indie pop. There is a little something in this album for everyone, and I think this platter of flavors and sounds on a debut that sounds like what bands struggle to accomplish deep into discography shows that the ceiling Mamalarky can reach is higher than most.
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