Forming in 2014 when drummer Austin Carango and lead singer Eric Butler were attending UC Berkley together, Mom Jeans didn’t release their first album, Best Buds, until July 3, 2016. This album became an instant hit in the emo community due to the irregular titles of some of the tracks, like “*sobs quietly,*” and the whiny vocals of lead singer Eric Butler.
Mom Jeans as a whole means a lot to me, and this is my favorite album they’ve released, although I love their whole discography equally, even their 2023 album “Bear Market,” where they remixed select songs from their three previous albums acoustically. Mom Jeans absolutely excel at making emotional songs, which can sometimes be corny, that tug at the listener’s heart strings, as they did mine, as I’ve listened to this album a whole lot. Without further ado, I will get into my review of this fantastic, emotional, and absolutely perfect album.
The opening song of this album, “Death Cup,” is an absolute masterpiece that perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the album, as it starts with the line, “I think it’s time that I warn you, I might cry in front of you.” The fourth track of this album, Edward 40 Hands, is an emo masterpiece that opens up with a sample of a clip from Bob’s Burgers, which explains how Mom Jeans got their name. Edward 40 Hands is such a fun and emotional track, which is why it’s my personal favorite track from the album.
The other two stand-out tracks of this album are both mostly acoustic songs: “Movember” and “Scott Pilgrim vs. My GPA.” “Movember’s” namesake comes from the yearly tradition men sometimes partake in where they don’t shave, and the song is practically about a relationship the narrator’s in, and they’re not completely sure if their significant other really loves them for them or for their looks, which is why it’s called Movember, as the narrator asks, “If I were to grow a beard… I fear you might not love me enough to make you stay.” To add, “Scott Pilgrim vs. My GPA” is an extremely good track, one of the bests off the record, and yes, they did name a song after Scott Pilgrim. This track is about the relationship the narrator was in, reflecting on what went wrong and how they thought they’d never see the day the relationship would fail. This song is unique in that it features brass instrumentation, trumpets, and a trombone, additions of Eric and Austin’s days in band together in high school and in college.
Overall, I give this album a 10/10, which a lot of people in the emo community would heartily disagree with, as this is a band where you either love them with all your heart or hate them to the point you want to punch all the members in the face while destroying copies of their albums. This album means a lot to me, as does Mom Jeans, and I could never thank them enough for making music. For more Mom Jeans content, I highly recommend watching their live performance on Audiotree from 2018 here.
