Mother Mariposa is Changing Shape

By Johnny Komos

There is an undeniable swagger that is present in every aspect of Oregan’s psych-rockers Mother Mariposa’s The Monarch Key, from the breathy baritone vocals to the four-to-the-floor disco kick drum. The guitars are simple yet effective, allowing each psychedelic layer to exist in its own space. The Black Angels’ own Alex Maas proclaimed, “it just melted my brain into the atmosphere” upon hearing it for the first time. The high praise from high places is well deserved and the brain-melting is completely accurate; brace yourself for a cosmic dance-off. 

On their latest single, Changing Shape, Mother Mariposa know there’s a lot at stake in the universe but they still believe in you. “It's hard to remember that when you trust in the significance of your own experience and share that trust with your neighbor, that courage is infectious and everlasting” says vocalist Jsun Atoms. “We were having the time of our lives [while on the road] with our better halves, The Dandy Warhols.” 

The video, directed by Mother Mariposa’s own Thomas Mudrick, follows the two bands on tour to such iconic locations as Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom and Seattle’s Showbox Theatre. It encapsulates the infectious and everlasting experience that only sharing a tour bus can provide. “One inspiration, although I believe to be subconscious, is the movie Purple Rain, with it's raw, candid shots and backstage shenanigans between Morris Day and the Time versus Prince and the Revolution at First Avenue,” says Atoms. Changing Shape shows the bands engaged in all sorts of shenanigans and gives the viewer a glimpse into what happens in the mythological ‘off-time’ between performances. 

The track itself features The Dandy Warhols’ Peter Holmstrom doing some fancy guitar work on the rare Gizmotron, famously used by Jimmy Page and Paul McCartney. The signature Mother Mariposa Groove and whisper-in-your-ear vocals are the perfect landscape for the trippy atmosphere provided by Holmstrom’s guitar work. It makes you feel like you’re about to meet the bad guy in a Sean Connery Bond film. The tongue-in-cheek falsetto singing ‘Changing Shape’ will have this track stuck in your head for days. 

‘Changing Shape’ was released on February 28th, 2020. Watch it here. 

Listen to The Monarch Key here.