Not to be one of those morons that likes to be nostalgic about the ’80s even though your hippocampus was not developed enough to hold many memories of it because you were fuckin’ five years old… BUT, if you were born in 1984 like me, the Flintstones Vitamins jingle has been permanently burned into your cerebral cortex. The person who wrote it made a lot of money, I’m sure. As such, every time I think of the band Growing, this melody pops in my head. Not exactly the tune you want to have circulating in your dome whilst Growing is ripping a hole in the sky immediately above you.

I’ve seen Growing twice. I witnessed them offer a very competitive opening set for Mogwai. Though there was nothing much to watch, per se, hearing their very warm and resonating drone assault, as suffocatingly prominent as their rapid-fire fractured guitar architecture, over a 8,000 watt PA felt like marching into Mordor. Shit was powerful. Growing has often been described as doom. I don’t really agree. Perhaps it’s because I saw them later at a party cracking wise and crushing Rolling Rock on top of a washer/dryer unit, but mostly because their harmonically complex jam hives sound almost hopeful – vast and assuring – like trying to look over the curve of the Earth. Growing seems to be taking a new direction now, offering a more shimmering, melodic approach, not too far removed from Cloudland Canyon. “Innit” is a big fuzzy bit-decimating tremolo defibrillator. “Green Flag” has a charming, delightful little breathing monster under its surface. This is profoundly good.

The new album, All the Way, comes at ya all crazy-style on Sept. 9. You can do the right thing and pre-order it here. The title coupled with the cover art cracks me up. Total Beijing action, right? Going all the way, in it to win it, reach for the stars, et cetera. <rant> By the way, is anyone else sick of hearing news stories about how Beijing is constantly acting all weird all the time? I am. I mean, no shit, guys. That’s what happens when you put the Olympics in the middle of Red China. Not to sound all curmudgeonly, but gee whiz. The IOC is a panel of retards. Next story please. </rant>

For reasons not entirely clear to me, Growing is touring with… uhhh, Hot Chip. I mean, that’s totally cool if they’re buds and all. It’s just that the indie dorks are going to be really, really sad for about 45 minutes on each of these upcoming fall dates:

09.28.08 – Chicago, IL – Metro
09.29.08 – Chicago, IL – Metro
09.30.08 – Toronto, ON – Koolhaus
10.01.08 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis
10.03.08 – New York, NY – Terminal 5
10.04.08 – New York, NY – Terminal 5
10.05.08 – Philadelphia, PA – The Trocadero
10.07.08 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
10.08.08 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
10.09.08 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse

MP3 :::
Growing – Green Flag
Growing – Innit