It wasn’t going to be easy for the “Wipeout Gang.” In fact, it was gonna be nonsense — pure malarkey, if you will — if they had ever set out like that. Thankfully, cooler whimsical heads prevailed and the ragtag crew soon rechristened themselves Mamalarky.
Originally from Austin, Texas, Mamalarky have quickly carved out a unique space with their psych-rock, lo-fi, jazz-rock amalgam and their playful yet technically skilled approach. Where is home now? “We call ourselves tri-coastal because we’re still spread out,” singer and guitarist Livvy Bennett tells PureHoney. “One of us is still in Atlanta, another in Texas, and two of us are in LA.”
Formed in 2016 by Bennett and high-school chums Michael Hunter on keyboards and Dylan Hill on drums, Mamalarky added bassist Noor Khan in 2018 ahead of their debut EP, Fundamental Thrive Hive. A pair of full-lengths for Brooklyn, New York-based Fire Talk Records followed in 2020 and 2022.
“We just never stop, we are always writing and recording,” says Bennett. “I just write so much music. It’s a compulsion and everyone in the band just kind of gives it legs, you know, and throws their ideas at it. Whatever ends up being the most resonant with us as a group, we throw onto the album.”
But the process for recording their third album, for new home Epitaph Records, sounds less random. “This is definitely the most different out of the three records we’ve put out,” Bennett says. “In the past almost every song we recorded has been like an accident but in this next record we like really learned what we want to say and how we want to say it.”
Bennett isn’t exactly sure how Mamalarky landed at the famed punk-rock label founded by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. But she feels good about the match and the support she says Epitaph has shown since signing them last fall. And here is some real, wipeout-worthy malarkey: The band has never performed in Florida before! “We’re so excited to meet our Florida fans finally,” Bennett says.
Mamalarky with Day Lily and Like Harvey play 8pm Sunday, February 15 at Propaganda in Lake Worth. GET TICKETS! mamalarky.com ~ Abel Folgar
