Atlanta's Kyle Gordon blends musical genres to create 'Mammabear'

Today’s ‘Speaking of Music’ is highlighting Kyle Gordon, an Atlanta musician heading the project known as MammaBear. He describes his band as “like a rock-and-roll-slash-folk, punk, R&B, funk ‘thing’.”

To call MammaBear a “band” might be a bit misleading, given that Gordon handles guitar, bass and drums on the recordings, as well as singing; but the live show expands the lineup with Gordon as a focused frontman on guitar and vocals. Featured track “Wish I” is a fist-pumping rock song with a glimmer of ’90s alternative throwback, “a song about uncertainty,” according to Gordon. “I wrote it the day I got back from a canceled tour in March of 2020. It’s a song about being concerned about the world, and hoping for something better,” he said.

Another featured song, “Life Can Wait,” takes a rare break from MammaBear’s signature dialed-up distortion and high energy, offering instead a moody, unsettled ballad sifting through the remnants of a broken relationship. In his hometown of Atlanta, Gordon prefers the under-the-radar nightclubs where scrappy strivers in the music scene “work hard to make their bread,” shouting out music mainstays 529 and the EARL.