Bad Mothers Union – Sore Losers (2026)
Unbridled and euphoric, listening to Bad Mothers Union – and I mean damn near any of their songs – is more than hitting the play button; it is a sonic experience and maniacal journey. The tension before the fall; the insanity of a mad night out; the pulsing core of the consequential hangover that you want to beat but know is a trophy of whatever you got up to last night, Bad Mothers Union express the best of times, the worst of times, and every thought or movement in between. Come along as we jump headfirst into their new album, Sore Losers.
Opening with the track ‘Jerusalem Jones’, Bad Mothers Union introduce themselves in a 20-minute run of heavy basses, crashing drums, percussion and a soaring guitar. In an almost rollercoaster spirit, the rises, dips, twists and turns might be overwhelming, but it is also intriguing as different aspects of Bad Mothers Union are presented in the track. From psychedelic rock to krautrock with intrusions of grunge and alt-rock in the mix, ‘Jerusalem Jones’ sets the mood for the rest of Sore Losers.
Filled with rock-tinged waves of sound, ‘Jerusalem Jones’ places you in a comfortable position for whatever else is to come; this is merely a lull into a false sense of security. Tipping everything on its head, the track ‘Bad Mothers Union’ punches you in the face with a one-minute blast of abrupt, heady punk. Keeping the chaos going, you are thrust into ‘God’s Intercom’, a solid, heavy krautrock track, and travel through a distorted smash of psychedelia and experimental rock tossed about with uncertain avant-garde sentiments.
From there, Bad Mothers Union, once again, thrusts you into an abrupt beat of music with ‘Cut In Half’. As if two melodies were played at once, then stitched together, there is a tribal pulsating clinging to sweeps of percussion and strings, inserting haziness and haunting into the off-kilter music.
The last of the five tracks on Sore Losers, ‘Golden O’, brings listeners full circle with its similarity in sound to opener ‘Jerusalem Jones’. Crashing, thrashing, crescendos, drawbacks, whispers and shouts, the almost 18-minute closer sets you down just as the 20-minute set things in motion.
If you made it to the end of Sore Losers, you’re probably a little woozy, breathless and tired from its heave of emotional music. I might not be the biggest fan of this demurely distorted but scorching boldness, but I think people should give it at least one listen. Warning: it’s not for the faint-hearted.
Find out more about Bad Mothers Union on their Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Bandcamp and Spotify.
This artist was sent to us by Old Crows Promotions.
