If you’re craving some big catchy alternative rock then Teesside quartet Motherland are going to be just the ticket with their engaging sound that they describe as “anthemic, energetic and heartfelt.”
The north-east alt-rockers got together in early 2019 and started out with regular writing sessions and rehearsals that helped them construct their first four singles. And on the sound they’ve crafted since, they tell us: “It’s so difficult to describe our sound, we just throw in everything we think sounds good. Genuinely couldn’t compare ourselves to anyone else. Are we unique? Maybe.”
We actually found Motherland through Spotify’s nifty autoplay feature, which plays songs from bands that sound similar to the artist playlist you were previously listening to. And the first song we discovered by the bannd was the excellent Penelope, which was released in October.
Penelope opens up with a high-pitched little guitar lick then drums introduce engaging vocals. Repeating guitars creep in as the atmosphere builds and feeds into a chorus that we guarantee you’ll be singing along to: “Penny likes the rollercoaster, Faster than her dreams, That girl likes anything as long as it’s for free, And she keeps up with me when we’re drinking by the sea, I think that’s alright.”
The little guitar lick returns to bridge back into another engaging verse “Paint the picture, I said it’s nice to meet ya, Do anything to take the pain away, To find a way somehow, To get this all worked out, I bet you want to go where everybody knows your name.” That feeds into another singalong chorus that gives way to a laid-back guitar lick, backing vocals and stabbing guitars to bring the track to a close. Check it out in the video here:
That followed on from a series of singles and the band’s debut, self-titled EP, which is packed with equally catchy alt-rock goodness, including the lively opener Where I Belong. We particularly like the sound of 2021 single Back To You, which opens up with laid-back chorus vocals “And I’ve been waiting for the right move, And I still get back to you, Waiting for the right call, And I still get back to you, Even with my eyes closed, And I still get back to you.” The vocals intensify with stabbing guitars and a meandering lick building to a bigger version of the chorus. Check it out here:
On the band’s musical influences, they tell us: “The four of us have history in heavy music however we never shied away from every other genre of music out there. We don’t try to replicate anyone else’s work but you get little hints of what we all grew up listening to in our songs. Maybe the listener can have a guess. We just write how we feel at the time, whether we’re happy about how life is treating us or how a relationship is disrupting us.”
Motherland have taken a little step backwards to figure out some personal life issues in 2023. But they’re always writing songs so hopefully there’ll be much more to come from the band in the near future.
And they add: “A massive thank you to everyone that listens to our music, watches our videos and has been to our gigs. Shout out to the real ones, you know who are you.”
You can follow Motherland on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify and Apple Music.
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