Growing - The Sky's Run Into the Sea
(Kranky)
When I hear that a band is from Olympia, WA, I think (along with probably
99% of people familiar with independent music) of Beat Happening or any one of the facets of K Records' brand of home-made, basement-brewed punk. So, I was surprised to find that one of Kranky's newest signings, Growing, was from Olympia. The Pacific Northwest created two of the best bands to grace Kranky's roster, Magnog and Jessamine, so they aren't without their peers. However, Growing seems to have their hands in yet another side of the Pacific Northwest's music scene: metal. This area has a thriving metal scene, having produced The Melvins, Earth, Sunn O))), etc.
Using guitar, bass and "electronics" (who knows what that means specifically... I'd assume a laptop?), Growing's music is an unusual combination of pulsing drones and crushingly heavy and slow riffs. "A Painting" opens the album with ringing guitar harmonics run through a quick delay. It eventually morphs into an oceanic drone, recalling past Kranky releases like Stars of the Lid's The Tired Sounds of... or Windy + Carl's Depths. Just as you think you have a grasp on what this record will do for the next 40 minutes, heavily distorted low-end guitar quickly overtakes the song at the 15 and a half minute mark. Even faster than it came, the distortion leaves, with only the sound of an un-amplified electric guitar playing the riff until the end of the track. Bizarre. And its effect is stunning. "Life in D" mixes the two "sounds" with a light tapestry of amorphous tones providing the texture to a heavily distorted (and wah-ed) bass melody. A guitar joins in, faintly roaring along in the background. Drums and more distorted guitars explode into a short-lived hint at something The Melvins would have extended for a full (and very difficult) album. The guitars fade out, but the drums keep bashing away every few seconds. After a long, awkward period of silence punctuated by a few drum crashes, a massive distorted drone fades in, which is soon joined by another Melvins-esque slow riff. Halfway through the album, "Tepsije (All Music is Folk Music)" comes in and confounds the listener even further. It's basically an ambient-metal instrumental version of The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood." The treated instruments are abandoned for "Southern Rites" which allows the overtones and simplicity of a clean guitar part room to breathe and provides a much needed palette cleanser for the final track, the over 17 minute "Pavement Rich in Gold." Pillowy loops make way for rumbling drones, which then provide the foundation for a song including vocals! The guitars synchronize with the vocal melody, and a synthesizer hums in the background. As if they hadn't confused us enough with their deft synthesis of so many modes, a bit of glitch takes over the song, which is then taken over by an incredible tremeloed and quickly shifting stereo panned guitar.
The bravado of this group is exciting, and the sheer massiveness of their sound sets them apart from the many drone and ambient bands out there. That they walk away from this recording having created such a unique album in a field riddled with rampant hegemony is incredible.
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