Sophia Regina Allison (born May 27, 1997), better known by her stage name Soccer Mommy, is an American singer-songwriter from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. She has four studio albums to her name; her latest album, ''

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

'', was released on October 25, 2024.

Early life and education

Born in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, in 1997 to Michelle (an elementary school teacher) and John Allison (a

neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist specializing in neuroscience that deals with the anatomy and function of neurons, Biological neural network, neural circuits, and glia, and their Behavior, behavioral, biological, and psycholo ...

), Sophie Allison grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, where her parents had moved the family when she was a toddler. She attended Nashville School of the Arts, a specialty high school where she studied guitar and participated in the school's swing band. Having been playing guitar since the age of six, Allison began creating her own music.

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

's 2004 album '' Under My Skin'' was the first album she ever owned. She began posting home-recorded songs to

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

as Soccer Mommy in 2015, during the summer when she was about to leave for college. She then attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, where she studied music business and English at the

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as NYU Steinhardt) is the education school of New York University. The school was founded as the School of Pedagogy in 1890. Prior to ...

. While in college, Allison played her first show as Soccer Mommy at the community art space Silent Barn in

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg to the northwest; ...

, and shortly after landed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with Fat Possum. She dropped out of college after two years in 2017 to return to Nashville and pursue her music career.

Career

Early releases (2015-2019)

Allison's first album as Soccer Mommy, ''For Young Hearts'', was released in 2016 on Orchid Tapes. Her second album, '' Collection'', was released in 2017 on Fat Possum Records. Her debut album proper, titled '' Clean'', was released on March 2, 2018. She has toured with Stephen Malkmus, Mitski, Kacey Musgraves, Jay Som, Slowdive, Frankie Cosmos,

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to sta ...

Phoebe Bridgers Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter. Her indie folk music typically centers on acoustic guitar and Electronic music, electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes. She has won four Grammy Aw ...

and others. She joined

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004. Since 2017, the band's lineup includes lead vocalist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of ...

and Foster the People on the first half of their 2018 summer tour. Soccer Mommy opened for

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chr ...

in the fall. She also opened for a few shows for

Wilco Wilco is an American Rock music, rock band based in Chicago. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently during its fir ...

in the fall of 2019.

Recent years (2020-present)

In February 2020, Allison played at one of

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

' presidential rallies and endorsed his 2020 presidential campaign. Allison's second album ''

Color Theory Color theory, or more specifically traditional color theory, is a historical body of knowledge describing the behavior of colors, namely in color mixing, color contrast effects, color harmony, color schemes and color symbolism. Modern color th ...

'' was released in 2020 through Loma Vista Recordings. Allison's third album '' Sometimes, Forever'' was released in 2022, also through Loma Vista. Allison's fourth album ''Evergreen'' was released on October 25, 2024, once again through Loma Vista.''

Musical style and influences

Emma Bowers of

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

stated "Sophie Allison has built a career on her capacity to mesh turn of the millennium grunge-pop and the tender, confessional songwriting of the late 2010s with uncanny sincerity and precision." Her compositions are described as " hooky" and "angular." Allison herself has stated that her music is influenced by

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

and that she strives for catchy elements in her songs, and her style is also noted for its "

990s The 990s decade ran from January 1, 990, to December 31, 999. Significant people * Al-Qadir * Mahmud of Ghazni * Pope John XV * Pope Gregory V References {{Reflist ...

alt-rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

ethos." Allison's approach to pop music also contains elements of

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

, leading some to categorize early career efforts such as '' Clean'' under the fusion genre bubblegrunge. Sonically, her albums have been described as "atmospheric" and "

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

-centric." Jenn Pelly of

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

said "Even when Allison’s strummy music evokes a coffee house open-mic, though, there’s an edge to it." Allison is known for her confessional, "conversational" lyrics, which have been described as "quietly tormented". Themes explored by Allison in her songs include lovesickness, self-doubt,

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

and

grief Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a Human bonding, bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, ...

. Mike Katzif of NPR said "In many Soccer Mommy songs, Allison sings with a captivating sense of yearning as she ruminates on the wounded ache of love, the

uncertainty Uncertainty or incertitude refers to situations involving imperfect or unknown information. It applies to predictions of future events, to physical measurements that are already made, or to the unknown, and is particularly relevant for decision ...

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

and restless wanderlust." Jenn Pelly of

said "her hazy singing can be conversational and appealingly flat. She sounds like a person you might know." Allison cites musicians Natalie Imbruglia, Mitski, Slowdive,

the Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Strayer ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

and

, as well as the cities of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and New York, as influences.

Discography

Studio albums

Demo albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * *
Soccer Mommy
at

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

{{Authority control 1997 births 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women singers American indie rock musicians American women singer-songwriters Fat Possum Records artists Guitarists from Tennessee Living people Loma Vista Recordings artists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Singers from Nashville, Tennessee