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.
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