The Moms

‘Doing Asbestos We Can,’ The Moms’ second full-length album and first for Bar/None Records catches up with a road-worn punk band after they’ve taken a brief moment at home. Still full of singalongs, fist-pumping rhythms, and gritted vocals, ‘Doing Asbestos We Can’ expands frontman Joey Nester’s songwriting to include more personal and intimate moments with a sound to match. The too short opener “Good Job” details the struggle between job security and jobless freedom before “Push Shove” ponders relationship freedom, declaring “if I regain my old devices and I get my Saturday nights back but still I feel as lost as I do now I’ll know there’s something wrong.” This is The Moms at their most dynamic yet, even bringing in Ciaran O’Donnell of The Front Bottoms for horns and keys most notably on the horn-filled “Fortunate Former.” The New Jersey trio’s range shows best on “Soup Song,” which boils the greater meaning down to a bowl of soup, pulling back in the verses before charging forward in the choruses in an almost Pixies-style loud-soft dynamic. The relentless punk energy still pulses throughout, though. Tracks like “Rock The Boat” and “New Frontier” offer a full-speed release raging against the current political turmoil. With the current madness facing the world, The Moms might be just the escape we need.