Soccer Mommy – Sometimes, Forever – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Sophie Allison, who records as Soccer Mommy is one of the more interesting mainstream female artists.  This is her third album and she seems to have pushed her sound, adding noisy effects to what seem like straightforward pop songs.  The album opens with the easy, yearning pop of Bones, taking on a ‘driving down the highway’ sound, a bit like what War On Drugs have been doing over their last few albums.  It’s followed up by the smooth-sounding With U, a track which works equally for belting out at the top of your voice, or sitting and staring into space.  On Unholy Affliction things suddenly go a bit warped, channelling Portishead with scratches, static and Allison’s tortured vocal.  Shotgun has a poppy, strong melody but the arrangement of the track is just a little bit… off, which makes for a more interesting track, albeit a more challenging one for mainstream radio to play.

On Darkness Forever she really goes for it, the track builds to a dark, malevolent middle, and she repeats this atmosphere later on Following Eyes to great effect.  There’s a lot to get your teeth into here, the rocky Don’t Ask Me combines gauzy guitars with an upbeat melody, while you won’t be able to resist nodding along to the washed-out sounding Fire In The Driveway, or the Courtney Barnett-evoking Feel It All The Time.  This third album sees further development from Soccer Mommy.  Dismiss it at your peril, there is something serious going on here.

Bones