Mamalarky - Hex Key

“Mamalarky is one of those groups driven by a tension between technical complexity and pop simplicity, a push-and-pull you can hear on this single from the upcoming album Hex Key. Skittish percussion and elastic bass lines provide a constantly shifting foundation for the lead singer Livvy Bennett’s wryly chiming vocals.” -The New York Times

“Smartly doubles down on the proggy quirks and little incoherences that make them such a unique force while still maintaining the effortless charm of their previous music.” -Pitchfork

“Mamalarky’s brand of dazed indie-pop comprises songs that set a horizontal mood. Featuring Livvy Bennett and Noor Khan (who you may know as part of Faye Webster’s live band) plus White Denim keyboard player Michael Hunter among its ranks, the band’s debut is a lo-fi collection of songs to vibe out to, with layers of complexity” -The FADER

“Hypnotic… The melody oozes and crawls like a body stuck to a hot blacktop, sounding as humid as it does tranquil.” -Paste

“A dazed two-minute sugar rush with blissed-out vocals and rushing breakbeats, and it sounds like something that Stereolab might’ve made if they were in a particularly jittery mood.” -Stereogum

Last month the band announced Hex Key with its high-octane and rambunctious lead single “#1 Best of All Time,” which received praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork, Paste, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Under The Radar and more.

In making their third record, Hex Key, Mamalarky spent entire seasons hunched over guitars and obscure synthesizers, their long hair sweeping over strings or covering concentrated eyes. The band recorded takes in between the sounds of passing ice cream trucks and yowling stray cats in their Los Angeles home studio, a tight but prolific living room. Hex Key is a document of perseverance, of going for the gold while somehow remaining totally aware of one’s own vulnerabilities. These effervescent, swirling songs chronicle vivid desires crashing against real-life limitations but finding a way to keep burning anyway. That tension between anguish and resilience, between performed aloofness and brutal honesty, drives the music, imbues it with a compelling intensity.

Given their closeness, Mamalarky are able to fight like family, not necessarily with each other, but for the music, to make it the best it can be. Whereas their last album, Pocket Fantasy, was exploratory and free-flowing, the songs on Hex Key are the result of absolute devotion and fine-tuning. It’s the kind of attention to detail that can only happen when the four bandmates are working alone together, uninterrupted by producers, engineers, or any outside influences. “It’s never ‘kick your feet up, let’s see what happens,” guitarist and singer Livvy Bennett says. “We’re always staring each other deeply in the eyes saying ‘Let’s make this next take incredible.’ We never settle.” The band is so committed to their craft that Hill even recorded the drums for “#1 Best of All Time” amidst an intense bout of poison ivy. The determination he felt in the moment manifested itself in the song’s frantic but focused percussion, he says.

Mamalarky is intentional about ensuring the sonic diversity of their projects. “The worst thing you can say about a Mamalarky song is ‘This sounds like another song of yours,’” bassist Noor Khan says. It’s what distinguishes them from a lot of indie rock bands who prioritize sonic consistency throughout an album. On Hex Key, each song is a world of its own. (continue reading full bio on DISCO)