Mostly Frogs serve up unconventional fun on debut album "Cookin’ Cousins"
It’s rare to find an album with such an origin story like Cookin’ Cousins by Mostly Frogs—a band born from bass-builder Jake Serek’s spontaneous, DIY ethos. The record, just released on October 11th, 2024, blends garage-band grit with polished, psych jam-band sensibilities, showcasing the humor and musical dexterity of Serek (bass, synth, vocals), Jay Pullano (guitar, vocals), Rich Lombardo (drums, vocals), and Corey DiGiovanni (sampler, SFX, live visual synthesis).
Mostly Frogs recorded the album in drummer Rich Lombardo’s garage, capturing a raw, laid-back vibe. And that DIY spirit runs through the album’s veins, with production shared between Deerhoof’s John Dieterich, Serek, and Pullano. It’s the type of album that feels like it’s inviting you into the band’s world—one big inside joke you can’t help but laugh along with. Though it might be an “inside joke”, we can be serious say when this album absolutely rips. It’s something we would listen and enjoy in our off time. It’s downright fun and each track somehow manages to seamlessly flow in tone from one to the other.
The title, Cookin’ Cousins, nods to a moment after a Phish show at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, where Serek and Pullano reheated chicken sandwiches and passed them through the Airbnb window like a makeshift drive-thru. This lightheartedness is reflected in the music itself, especially in the opener “Foma Guys,” which spins a humorous tale about a misidentification of crickets for frogs by someone under the influence of nitrous oxide. It’s hard not to smile when you hear these stories and even harder not to appreciate the band’s ability to turn life’s oddities into catchy tunes.
Musically, Cookin’ Cousins is a blend of jam-band spontaneity and tightly constructed grooves. So many of these songs like “Grape Vape” and “Tuna Farm” bring out the band’s love for stretching out musical ideas into delightful, unconventional spaces. It’s the same kind of freewheeling, adventurous spirit you’d expect from a group that cooked up social media stunts like “Win a Date with the Guitarist from Mostly Frogs,” a promotion Jay Pullano didn’t even know about until submissions started rolling in.
The DIY artwork—created from a finger-painted sketch by Corey DiGiovanni and polished with the help of his sister-in-law, Kaleigh Murphy—mirrors the album’s homegrown, irreverent charm. It’s emblematic of a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously but is serious about delivering fun, offbeat, and surprisingly complex music.
In a music landscape full of overly polished, hyper-commercialized releases, Cookin’ Cousins is a refreshing break—an album that feels like an endearing jam session between friends who just happen to be really good at what they do. There’s humor, there’s heart, and there’s a lot of groove. Mostly Frogs’ debut is a must-listen for fans of experimental jam bands or anyone looking for music with a side of personality.
At 10 songs, coming in right around the 40 minute mark, they’ve constructed something that hear that genuinely feels like they’re having fun, opening up, and creating something that they’d want to hear. It balances that line of spontaneous rock but with a vision that’s fully been realized. The story leading up to it is borderline hilarious on how the band came to be, but the record delivers in droves. Go ahead and click those links below to listen, follow along, and of course to stay tuned for all the latest news.
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