Single Mothers

Single Mothers have maintained an unusual trajectory since announcing their 2009 dissolution on their official site, with the declaration that the group “broke up in 2009 -- and have been playing shows ever since.” Operating out of London, Ontario, the band delivers an energetic, streetwise strain of punk distinguished by shouted vocals, and its ascent within Canada’s punk community has featured repeated unexpected shifts. Frontman and principal songwriter Drew Thomson guided the outfit through its earliest phase, issuing several self-released singles that preceded the arrival of the terse, quicksilver full-length Negative Qualities in 2014. Later efforts preserved the core intensity while tightening arrangements and broadening scope, notably on the focused Through a Wall in 2018 and the eclectic, wry Everything You Need in 2022, where the pointed fury of the lyrics stayed constant; by contrast, 2023’s Roy leaned toward classic rock structures even as its words remained saturated with fury and unease.

Thomson has remained the only unchanging presence since the band’s first performances, though a stable nucleus coalesced by 2010 when guitarist Michael Peterson and bassist Evan Redsky joined him alongside a series of drummers. The group quickly earned a reputation for forceful live shows and issued the three-track Wild Party EP in 2010. Its follow-up, the four-song Single Mothers EP released the next year, brought wider attention after “Christian Girls” and “Hell (Is My Backup Plan)” received airplay on alternative stations and views on YouTube. Personal circumstances intervened in 2011 when Thomson stepped away at his father’s urging; as he later recounted to journalist Ian Cohen, “My dad tricked me -- he knew I was drinking too much and hanging with the wrong people in London, and he was like, ‘You should go up with your aunt and uncle, who are prospectors, and make a bunch of money.’” He relocated to Swastika, Ontario, prospered as a gold prospector earning up to $1,500 daily, and continued writing material that prompted Touche Amore’s Jeremy Bolm to issue two solo singles on the Secret Voice imprint.

Thomson revived Single Mothers in 2013, adding drummer Brandon Jagersky to the existing Peterson-Redsky foundation while enlisting Joby J. Ford of the Bronx to produce their debut album. HXC, an XL Recordings subsidiary, handled the U.S. release of Negative Qualities, which surfaced in fall 2014 and triggered extensive North American touring. That configuration dissolved once the road dates concluded, prompting Thomson and Jagersky to recruit guitarist Justis Krar and bassist Ross Miller for the follow-up Our Pleasure, issued by Dine Alone Records in June 2017. For Through a Wall, Thomson and producer Ian Romano employed a changing cast of supporting musicians across individual tracks rather than a fixed band; the resulting October 2018 Dine Alone release marked Thomson’s first project after he stopped drinking. Songwriting for the next album began in 2019 yet stalled amid the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown; with extra time on his hands, Thomson polished the material, drawing the title Everything You Need from a convenience-store sign he passed daily. Released in 2022, the record reflected ongoing pandemic concerns, themes that carried into 2023’s Roy, shaped by the isolation, tedium, and economic strain of that period. During promotional interviews Thomson indicated the album might serve as the band’s finale, stating, “If the band is done and this is the final record, then I'm happy with this one being the last one.” Regardless, he booked a three-month tour spanning Canada and the United States. Outside of recording and touring obligations, Thomson continues prospecting for gold in Swastika.