Tyson Motsenbocker Loses His Milk Teeth

John Thompson November 1, 2022

Tyson Motsenbocker is quite an anomaly. He’s a young, hip songwriter/artist who crafts alternative, modern-sounding pop (in the tradition of Postal Service or Death Cab) with obvious compositional influences coming from sources much older. He is also willing to tackle difficult, even controversial issues – including racism, hypocrisy, addiction, immaturity, and mental health challenges – with both scathing insight and self-deprecating wit. And as if that is not enough, after spending his formative years in the Evangelical subculture, Motsenbocker leaves one foot in that world, even while critiquing it and his own long-held beliefs, in the process. His latest album, Milk Teeth, dives headfirst into the complicated subject of adulthood as it contemplates our collective loss of vision, empathy, and imagination as our childish ways erode. From Steinbeck to surfing, Motsenbocker offers a flurry of revealing metaphors for his own faltering but committed, spiritual, cultural, and relational journey through life.

On our Jukebox feature, we take a careful listen to another of our favorite young artists, Madison Cunningham, who sang with Tyson on his previous LP and hails from the same hometown (San Diego.) Cunningham’s new Revealer LP is finally available and well worth the wait.

Buy Tyson Motsenbocker and Madison Cunningham’s Music Today!

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MOTSENBOCKER MUSIC LIST:

Opening segment

Tyson Motsenbocker – Make Me Feel It, Come On

Madison Cunningham – Our Rebellion

Set One

Tyson Motsenbocker – Rust (Live); Come to California (Acoustic); North Shore Party; The Last Summer; Sunday Morning; Talk All Night for Nothing (ft. Jon Foreman) (Live); Until It Lands, Pt. 1; I Sill Have To Go; Can’t Come Home Again

Jukebox

Madison Cunningham – Broken Harvest; L.A. (Looking Alive); Hold On; All I’ve Ever Known; Giraffe; Hospital; Anywhere; Life According to Raechel; Your Hate Could Power a Train; In from Japan; Sunshine Over the Counter; Who Are You Now

The Porter’s Gate Worship Project – Little Things with Great Love

Set Two

Tyson Motsenbocker – Someday I’ll Make It All Up To You; I Miss The Old Days Too; Fentanyl. High Line (Acoustic); Autumn Love (Acoustic); Time Is a One-Way Mirror; Wendy Darling (Demo & Album version); Hide from the World; Give Up; Carlo Rossi; All The Old Bars; Honest; Oh No; Buyer Confidence (Album version and Full Band mix)

Closing

Phil Keaggy & Rex Paul – Full Circle (True Tunes podcast theme version)