New Brunswick, Canada, trio Motherhood blend an odd array of styles—freak folk, neo-prog, spazzy, left-field pop—into sporadically interesting songs. At their best, the tracks on new album Dear Bongo ramble with an endearing goofiness, creating the sense that things may spiral into chaos at any second, in the manner of early Pixies or early Man Man; see “#224” for an exemplary example. Motherhood exhibit a non-haughty eagerness to experiment while still crafting memorable melodies, and even if they sometimes come off as hokey, you have to admire their skewed ambition. by Dave Segal