From the Telegraph, London (
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/18/wmom18.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/07/18/ixworld.html):
'Mom rock' will teach the punks a thing or twoBy Catherine Elsworth
(Filed: 18/07/2005)
Suburban mothers who do daily battle on the school run are not your average rockers and their songs about breastfeeding, washing dirty socks and burning the dinner do not exactly mine traditional rock 'n' roll themes.
But women seeking to redefine motherhood are picking up guitars and drum sticks for "mom rock", a musical movement gathering momentum in America and soon, they hope, the world.
Bands such as Housewives on Prozac in New York, Placenta and Rockin' Moms in California and Frump in Texas began rehearsing in basements and attics, thrashing out punk songs about everyday problems.
Eat Your Damn Spaghetti, Dishwashing Blues and Pee Alone are some of the tracks that have given the ''mom rockers'' recognition.
There is an annual festival, Mamapalooza, across eight cities and next week sees the release of the first all ''mum rock'' compilation CD.
"A lot of women are strong individuals. But when we become moms, often the only identity we have is to go back to some retro image of the Fifties housewife," said Joy Rose, 48, a mother of four from New York who is seen as the movement's founder.
"This is about saying 'I am a mom and a person'. You don't have to become a cookie cutter, you can continue to explore who you are in the world. We're spreading the message that moms rock."
Mrs Rose, who formed Housewives on Prozac and launched Mamapalooza, is struggling to keep pace with the number of bands springing up.
"It's gone into crazy mode," she said. "Our message is down to earth: we all have a hard time, we work hard and have issues to deal with, but music is our Prozac. It is very freeing."
The mom rock movement comes amid a growth in publications and other media targeted specifically at women, especially mothers. Hip Mama, an online magazine, "bursts with political commentary and ribald tales from the front lines of motherhood". The television series Desperate Housewives satirises life as a housewife in affluent suburbia.
Housewives on Prozac was inspired by Mrs Rose's "experience as a mother of four having crash-landed in the suburbs after moving from Soho in New York".
She said: "I looked around and saw people stuck in the middle of raising kids with difficult jobs and I was hell-bent on creating some fun.
"It seemed much more appropriate to sing about screaming at my kids than doing it."
But while the songs are humorous, the grassroots movement has a serious aim - to "teach mothers to empower themselves through their art and get out there".
Suzie Riddle formed Frump in Dallas, a five-piece band of working mothers, after turning 40 and dealt with the milestone by learning to play the drums.
The band, whose website defines a frump as "an unappreciated woman", describes itself an "all-mum garage band" and "group of women who need to make some noise". Its tracks include a raw, thrash number called Pick Up Your Socks.
"When I got the drum set I thought I really need to start up a band," said Miss Riddle, 43, a librarian and divorced mother of three who performed in college groups as a student.
Oakland-based Placenta, which has three mothers and a grandmother, chose their name as "we did not want anything with cutesy associations.
One of their most popular songs deals with the threat of school closures in the Oakland area.
Next week, Mamalition Records releases what it bills as the first mum rock compilation, Mom Aid. A portion of the profits will go to Unicef.
The Mothers, a British band from Derby who played at the New York Mamapalooza, will feature. Described as "five mothers, two guitars, one drum kit and a whole lot of parental attitude", the band's songs include Oh No! I Burnt the Dinner and Do You Need a Wee?
