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Grown Ups

More Songs

Written by: PP on 09/08/2010 04:36:41

Exposure to two very different scenes could be the reason why Growns Ups sound the way they do on "More Songs", their ten track debut album. Half of the band originates from Chicago, Illinois, known for it's blossoming punk rock scene that has given us bands like Rise Against and Fall Out Boy among countless others. The other half comes from Furnessville, IN, which isn't really known for anything as far as I'm aware, but I've heard more than a couple of bands from elsewhere in Indiana that all share one common passion: playful experimentation. "More Songs" has a heart made out of punk rock, specifically the Midwestern kind, that can be heard in the strain in vocalist Doyle Martin's singing voice; there's a rough patch adding flair to every one of his lines. But the heart is wrapped around a body of intricate math rock guitar riffs, where dangly guitars cruise around like they're in a labyrinth, only to tempo-shift rapidly into another d-beat supported punk rock riff. Kind of like a bastard child between Damiera and Jawbreaker, if you like, but not quite.

Trouble in describing these guys is common as they're not your typical pigeonhole-able punk rock act. There's too much emotionally charged vocal delivery on the album, be it a fiery explosion into near-screaming from seemingly nowhere, or a quiet/loud dynamic that's played on across the whole album. Not too much unlike Castevet, actually, except where they rely on a post-rock rooted approach, Grown Ups explore various aspects of the math rock genre to deviate from the all-too-usual punk rock formula. They nail it perfectly on a few tracks - "Six More Weeks Of Winter", "Spider Mansion" and "Are You Shitten Me?" - which outline the reason why there's beginning to be a buzz about the band around the internets. That whole experimental guitar melody meets emotionally driven, aggressive vocal delivery is what makes Grown Ups excellent. It bears many similarities to the original emo movement, when something exciting was cooking underneath the radar of the mainstream public, except it's still quite different. Experimental punk might be the term to use until someone coins a trendy word to describe these guys and the growing number of other bands playing around with similar dynamics today. What we're really waiting for is a band like Grown Ups on those three tracks, who can keep it up for 10 to 12 tracks on a release, for this stuff to really explode into the knowledge of the bigger public. So as you guessed, Grown Ups can't quite keep up the pace for the entirety of the album as set by those three individual tracks. That said, none of the tracks are bad here, hence the rating must reflect an exciting, vibrant bunch of tracks with a few flagships above the rest.

Download: Six More Weeks Of Winter, Spider Mansion
For the fans of: Castevet, Damiera, Jawbreaker, Look Mexico, Rooftops
Listen: Myspace

Release date 18.05.2010
Big Scary Monsters