Bred in Portland’s DIY-music scene, the latest and greatest Northwest quartet Growing Pains delivered their long-awaited sophomore project “Thought I Heard Your Car” last Friday, Feb. 17.
The newest installment in their discography is a testament to the growth the band has endured over the three years since their last release, “Heaven Spots”. This collection showcases the band’s maturity as a unit –– but also as individuals transitioning from years of teenage angst into budding adulthood.
This release marks a new precedent for the band going forward, breaking down the walls of their own psyches to create music which unapologetically reflects their thoughts and emotions first –– without adhering to constraints of genre or preconceived notions from the band’s first release.
Formed in 2018, while all the members were still in high school. Their journey as a band has paralleled their own personal growth through adolescence. After meeting through the “School of Rock” program in Portland, Carl Taylor (guitar), Jack Havrilla (vocals/guitar) and Kyle Kraft (drums) began making music together. But it wasn’t until Kalia Storer (vocals/bass) was recruited that the band was fully formed. All that was left was to decide on a name before their first gig.
After a strenuous process discarding names that didn’t quite fit, making this decision proved to be more difficult than expected. That is until Havrilla watched season one, episode five of the TV show “Breaking Bad.” During the episode, Walt Jr. gets in trouble trying to buy beer, and his uncle Hank helps bail him out. When Hank talks to Walt’s mother, he said this in defense of his nephew: “He’s just a teeanger trying to score some beers… you know…growing pains.” Thus a name was born.
Prior to becoming the band it is today, the members of the group had extensive experiences engaging in the Portland scene as fans –– as well as through separate musical aspirations prior to meeting.
“My dad and uncle had a band together, multiple bands together, and a lot of my parents’ friends were in the music scene. So growing up, I’d go to a lot of shows,” Storer said. “When I was little, being around that scene, my family and extended family definitely were pushing for me to be in music. Looking up to my dad, my uncle and all my parent’s friends, I just wanted to be like that.”
By 2019, Growing Pains had put out their first single: “Winter Broke.” About a year later, their debut LP “Heaven Spots” –– with seven new tracks –– was available to the world. Recorded at Echo Hill Studios in Portland during the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the difference in process is stark. Unable to write together, or even hang out in person, while also all still being high school students, this was a dynamic the band has reflected on greatly –– especially when compared to the band’s most recent releases’ process.
“With ‘Heaven Spots,’ I was in high school, and all the music I listened to was written by people who were in their 30s and had a different view on life,” Taylor said . “I had this desire to have the same lyrical style as these artists who had totally different experiences than me. So there was a disconnect in those lyrics.”
The band continues to perform songs from “Heaven Spots” at most shows to this day, and plans to continue doing so. There remains a clear sense of pride regarding this first project and its ability to capture the mindset the band was in during this time in their career, working as a stepping stone for the potential that will come with their future projects.
In the early days of summer 2022, the band began recording “Thought I Heard Your Car,” three years after their last release. Using what they’d learned from their first LP, all trial and error was taken into account for making the latest work.
“I feel a lot more connected to our music now,” Storer said. “I’ve found a new kind of effervescence for writing lyrics, and I feel like I’m getting better at conveying how I actually feel in a more developed sense than before.”
Storer and Taylor were responsible for penning the lyrics for all five of the songs on the project. Taylor is credited for “What are the Odds?” and “Lemon Lime,” while Storer wrote “Pretend to Sleep” and “Memory From Last Year.” The two of them unite on the song “In Effigy.” However, each member of the band was crucial in creating their own respective instrumental parts, working together to create their most innovative and cohesive sound to date.
“With this EP, it was really fun for us to take more complicated musical elements than we’ve done before looking at time signatures, chord progressions and the stacking of things,” Kraft said “and then still trying to balance it out with being a very fun pop song to listen to.”
But what does it take to write a song? And how can you know when it’s ready to go out into the world?
When posed with these questions, the band stated that for the most part, songs start and end in different ways, with some of the songs on this record based on ideas from years prior. Feeling more comfortable in their own method of songwriting, the band members were able to experiment more with new ideas as well as revamp some older pieces that needed to be fully fleshed out.
“Production felt more like a fifth instrument to the band in this, where we were all collectively making these creative decisions with Nathan [Tucker] that were really shaping the song,” Kraft said about working with producer Nathan Tucker, who also serves as a part of two bands, Strange Ranger and Cool Original. “We wanted to go back to that feeling of recreating something that we felt somewhere else, and really conveying that emotion. You can do that with your instruments and with lyrics, but production is another color you add to the painting to really bring it to life.”
“Thought I Heard Your Car” is a must-listen for fans of the Pacific Northwest music scene. It’s a bold and innovative project showcasing the band’s versatility and willingness to think outside of any box people may try to put them in.
Stand-out track “Lemon Lime” sets the tone for the album with its gritty instrumentals. Paralleling shoegaze heavy weights like Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine, paired perfectly with Storer’s dreamy vocals akin to Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star. However, these comparisons only aid to give context rather than entirely describe the breakthrough talent of a band with members who are prepared to, literally, grow their future together.
Spin the record now and don’t miss the next show in Eugene. Or plan a road trip to Portland for their EP release show on March 3 with Common Girl and Mauve at Mission Theater.
Keep tabs on the band on Instagram or Twitter: @growingpainspdx
