Mama Zu - "Lip"

Image courtesy Mama Zu

Mama Zu is the musical project between Jessi Zazu and Linwood Regensburg after the break up of their previous band, Those Darlins, in 2016. They began working on an album under the name Mama Zu while Zazu was battling cervical cancer, which claimed her life at age twenty-eight in September 2017. Regensburg found himself unable to finish their album, but started to be able to work on it in 2020. 

The first single from Mama Zu is "Lip," and if you're a Those Darlins fan, you're going to adore this. Jessi Zazu just has one of those fantastic and distinctive voices, and "Lip" takes all of the attitude and edge from their previous bands and unleashes it into a more rock and roll based sound. The song is irresistibly catchy, and just flat out rocks. This song has a garage rock meets pop kind of sound, but rocks harder than anything this catchy has any right to. 

Linwood Regensburg says of the new song:

"The beauty of a 'fuck you' song (of which there might happen to be several on this album) is that you could simultaneously find yourself singing along while also being the oblivious target. Granted I never asked Jessi what this song was actually about and it's also quite possible I might be an unreliable narrator here. Nevertheless, in the meantime, whether you’re in the mood to raise a middle finger or perhaps deserved of one, this song's for you." 

You can watch the video for "Lip" below. Quilt Floor is due out February 23 on Thirty Tigers, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Mama Zu, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram.