Like so many coming-of-age stories that leave a long-lasting impact, Momma’s new album Welcome to My Blue Sky takes place during a charmed and turbulent summer—a transformative moment in time that co-founders Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten sum up as a period of “parallel chaos.” The Brooklyn-based band’s fourth LP, over the course of 12 immaculately composed yet immediately potent songs, documents all the life-altering upheaval the two singer/songwriter/guitarists experienced during a whirlwind mid-2022 tour. Equal parts shared memoir, communal outpouring, and riveting emotional travelogue, each track is infused with both unsparing self-awareness and immense sensitivity, and the result is a bold leap forward for one of the most creatively uncompromising and singular voices in indie-rock. “This record came from a very formative time for us—there was a lot of change that felt so fun and exciting, but also a lot of instability and heartbreak,” says Weingarten, who met Friedman during their high-school years in L.A. and soon struck up a close musical collaboration. As they dealt with the fallout of that phase of their lives (a moment marked by infidelity, loneliness, heavy drinking, and the start of new romance), the two friends made a pact to wade through the mess together. “In a way it felt like we flipped our entire lives upside-down,” says Friedman. “We needed to lean on each other to cope with everything we were going through, and writing songs together was a big part of working through those feelings and finally putting them to rest.” Welcome to My Blue Sky, produced by their bandmate Aron Kobayashi Ritch, marks the follow-up to Household Name—a 2022 release that earned acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, NYLON, NME, and Rolling Stone (including landing on Rob Sheffield’s “Top 20 Albums of 2022” list). In creating their most autobiographical and exactingly realized work to date, Friedman and Weingarten wrote most of the album together on acoustic guitars before sharing those songs with Kobayashi Ritch. The multi-instrumentalist/engineer then guided the band through a highly methodical demoing process aimed at elevating their sound (or, as the band puts it, “setting a new standard for ourselves”) while harnessing the infectious energy they’ve shown in touring with seminal bands like Death Cab For Cutie and Weezer, and performing at major festivals like Coachella. With the help of drummer Preston Fulks, Momma arrived at an album matching the raw urgency of rock with the sticky melodies and taut arrangements of pop—a dynamic born from their deepened commitment to finding the most direct vessel for their emotional expression. “With this album we were less concerned with sounding cool and heavy and rock & roll and much more focused on good, clean songwriting that hopefully inspires people to sing along and mean every word,” Weingarten reveals. One of the first songs completed for Welcome to My Blue Sky, “I Want You (Fever)” served as an essential breakthrough in shaping the album’s viscerally charged, inventive, and detailed sound. “I remember us writing that in my bedroom and coming up with a riff for the pre-chorus, and then deciding to sing that part instead of playing it on guitar—which felt so fun and fresh and took the song in a whole new direction,” Friedman recalls. “I Want You (Fever),” with its frenetic textures and hypnotic chorus, soon evolved into a fantastically loopy portrait of forbidden love. “When we were recording that song I felt such an intense joy that I couldn’t stop smiling,” says Weingarten. “It felt completely authentic to Momma, but also like stepping into a whole new era.” Mainly recorded live with the full band at Studio G in Brooklyn, Welcome to My Blue Sky takes its title from a gorgeous, sprawling track embodying a far more wistful mood, where Momma’s tender introspection is adorned with bittersweet strings and graceful acoustic-guitar work. “We were on tour and stopped at a gas station and saw a sign that said ‘Welcome to My Blue Sky,’ which hit me as really poetic—although it turned

Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over is Cap'n Jazz's first and only full-length album, originally released in 1995 on Man With Gun Records. Undoubtedly one of the most influential albums ever to be released (if not of all time, then definitely of 1995), Burritos... has spawned more bands than words in its title. Often shortened to just Shmap’n Shmazz, the record was released when the members — Tim Kinsella, Mike Kinsella, Victor Villarreal, Sam Zurick, and Davey von Bohlen — were mere teenagers, with future bands such as American Football, The Promise Ring, Joan of Arc, Owls, Owen and more but a twinkle in the eye of their collective discographies. Recorded and mixed the last 5 days of 1994 by Casey Rice at Idful, Chicago. Remastered 2024 by Mikey Young. Anja Westerweck; "kitty, kitty cats" on track 1. Casey; tambourine on track 3. Kevin J. Frank; piano on track 8. All words and music by Cap'n Jazz, except track 6; "I'm dying to tell you I'm dying, I don't need a reason," by Bob Nanna (refer to Friction's "Auburn" ca. 1994.) Track 11 written with Ryan Rapsys. Track 12 written with Kevin. Artwork and design by Tim, with layout help by Kevin. Expanded packaging design by Janelle Abad, 2024. Originally released on Man With Gun Records, 1995. Thank You Mark Pearsall & Miqual Corley. the Players; Mike Kinsella, Tim Kinsella, Victor Villareal, Davey von Bohlen,and Sam Zurick. drums, belts, guitars, guitars, and bass respectively.

In February 2024, just shy of the tenth anniversary of Alvvays’ self-titled debut, its second song and single, “Archie, Marry Me,” reached a rarified threshold for our streaming age—one-hundred million listens through a single platform. For the world’s biggest pop stars that’s an average achievement, but for an upstart indie rock band then writing in a backroad farmhouse on a Canadian island, it represented a staggering proof of connection and widespread resonance. Makes sense, after all: “Archie, Marry Me” is a softly stinging, pointedly funny portrait of a common end-of-youth predicament—to wed or not to wed, to involve the state and the possibility of financial ruin when you’re already saddled with student loans and just trying to survive. Instantly relatable, it is an anthem about prescribed social expectations and delighting, however noncommittally, in outcast status.Now remastered by Bernie Grundman and reissued with deep cut “Underneath Us” to mark a glorious decade of deadpan jangle, Alvvays feels that way from end to end—literally, from the opening stalking-you-with-love anthem “Adult Diversion” to the ennui escapism of sci-fi closer “Red Planet.” In a little more than 30 minutes, Alvvays give us a song about loving someone to actual death (“Next of Kin”), how keeping secrets will destroy what you think you want (“The Agency Group”), and another incisive song about the societal demands of love and marriage (“Atop a Cake”). When Molly Rankin, Alec O’Hanley, Kerri MacLellan, and Brian Murphy cut these songs with Chad VanGaalen in 2013, long before they had a record deal, they were, in fact, young adults trying to figure out these encroaching exigencies for themselves. Again, these problems don’t age; some of us just happen to be lucky enough to age out of them.Little of this would matter if the songs themselves didn’t stick, if the melodies weren’t as timeless as the topics. But the tension between Alvvays’ shimmer and snap and Rankin’s knowingly droll delivery connects these numbers to a brilliant and deep rock continuum, from the glories of C86 and the triumphs of Athens in the ’80s to Celtic folk’s own magnetic candour. Each of these songs lands several hooks apiece: the sparkling drum-machine drift of “Dives,” the noise-caked sway of “The Agency Group,” and, of course, the half-diffident and half-confident matrimonial plea of “Archie, Marry Me” and that pearly guitar lick. Ten years ago or ten years from now, here are ten songs to slip in your pocket and pull out when the decisions of the world seem to swirl like the very guitars that shape them.

On of Montreal’s seminal album The Sunlandic Twins, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Barnes followed up their 2004 Polyvinyl debut, Satanic Panic in the Attic, with what became the band’s most commercially successful album to date. Originally released in April 2005, The Sunlandic Twins marked a significant turning point for of Montreal, showcasing Barnes’ evolving songwriting and a shift towards a more electronic and dance-oriented sound. The album’s vibrant blend of synth-pop and psych rock helped cement its status as a fan favorite and a defining moment in the band’s career. Iconic tracks like “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” and “The Party’s Crashing Us” became some of the most beloved songs in the band’s extensive catalog. To celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary, Polyvinyl is thrilled to announce a special edition reissue. Lovingly remastered by Glenn Schick, with a half-speed vinyl master by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, The Sunlandic Twins (20th Anniversary Edition) features the original 13-track album along with a treasure trove of bonus material from the era, including previously unreleased tracks and rarities that offer a deeper glimpse into the creative process behind this mesmerizing record. Lovingly remastered by Glenn Schick (2024)Half speed master by Miles Showell at Abbey Road StudiosArtwork by David BarnesLayout by Jerrod Porter