Big Mother Gig
Gusto
Fraga/Sweet Sweet Records
Friday, April 30, 2021

“Huge pop hooks with equally massive guitar sounds … ’The Underdog’ is a mightily catchy introduction that reminds me of late-’90s touchpoints like ‘Clarity’-era Jimmy Eat World but with a grand guitar sheen I’d almost compare to the Cure.” – Stereogum

“A big, soaring dose of jangly, road-trip-friendly alt-rock that longtime Big Mother Gig fans (or Replacements or Husker Du or Gin Blossoms fans)
are gonna wanna hear." – Brooklyn Vegan

Milwaukee-bred/LA-based indie rock band Big Mother Gig are excited to announce the Friday, April 30 release of its brand new full-length album titled Gusto. A celebration of sobriety, Gusto is first and foremost a recovery record. “I celebrated my first year of sobriety alone over a stormy Spring weekend in a desert cabin with some recording gear,” frontman Richard Jankovich recalls. “The album just flowed out of me–13 songs over three days. I wrote from morning until night and it was cathartic.” Addressing family, marriage, addiction, anger, serotonin, despair and, ultimately, hope, Gusto is a wide-ranging, emotional journey that focuses on second chances.

Cloaked in guitar-driven catharsis and featuring guest vocals from Leah Wellbaum of Slothrust, the new single, “The Underdog,” refers to Jankovich himself but is an ode to his wife who never left and helped him through a life of high-functioning alcoholism and disappointment. She helped uncover his trauma, addiction and overall issues. Jankovich says he’s lucky she stuck with him–he kept thinking about how she “wants him to win” and it reminded him of the Bad News Bears, especially with Walter Matthau’s drinking.

Written by music vet Richard Jankovich and performed by Michael Datz, Albert Kurniawan, Micah Lopez as well as Jankovich, Gusto, the forthcoming album from LA’s Big Mother Gig, was originally going to be titled For Those About To Rock Bottom, a sarcastic reference to a rock band learning to sober up. Continuing with this creative thread, Big Mother Gig recorded the album that would go on to be mixed by Dan Long (Local Natives, Spiral Stairs) and mastered by the legendary Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, Spoon, The White Stripes).

Previously, the band released their 2018 LP, No More Questions, while wrapping a West Coast tour opening for Gin Blossoms. The LP featured Dicky Barrett (Mighty Mighty Bosstones) and Britta Phillips (Luna) on vocals. It was praised by Brooklyn Vegan, NPR/The Current, Paste, The Big Takeover, Alternative Press, Under The Radar, No Depression and more. The band also hosted a six-episode web-series and their music video for “Obliterate” starred Sons Of Anarchy/Mayans actor Michael Ornstein.

Prior to 2016, Jankovich was known for Burnside Project (Bar/None, Sony) whose “Cue The Pulse To Begin” became the theme to Queer As Folk, and Pocket, a persona he used to remix Radiohead, Beck and others to acclaim by Pitchfork and Stereogum. Since reforming in 2016, Big Mother Gig has performed with Gin Blossoms, Soccer Mommy, The Posies, Luna, Peelander-Z , Alvarez Kings, The Yawpers and more.