The Growlers don’t have a bad song. Every album builds on the next, with better production and songwriting each release.
From the band’s first two releases, Are You In Or Out? and Hot Tropics, to the Julian Casablancas-produced City Club, The Growlers have always found a happy medium between experimentation and keeping a classic sound.
City Club was different from The Growlers’ normal releases. It was more electronic and distorted, with an echo of Casablancas production. Although the album was heavily experimental, it still sounded like The Growlers.
Even with lead singer Brooks Nielsen’s voice distorted, his unique croon is still abundant among the band’s usual sickly sweet lyrics.
In songs such as “Blood of a Mutt,” Nielsen flexes his voice into different ranges than he would have on the band’s earlier albums. The band’s abilities as musicians as well as production value surpasses anything it has done before.
City Club could have gone very poorly. Julian Casablancas’ production could have easily taken over The Growlers’ sound and overshadowed the band’s established music style. But the band and Casablancas blended perfectly to make an album so different yet so refreshing.
There’s no album that sounds like City Club. It’s a unique piece of music, with major artistic risks paying off. Although there are remnants of The Growlers’ past work, the album shows the band’s willingness to explore and expand its familiar sound.
Since City Club, The Growlers have released three outstanding singles. Although the singles depart from their project with Cult Records, they too show major growth from a band whose first album came out in 2010.
The best of those singles is “Monotonia.” The song is a drastic return from the band’s experimental period. It’s on The Growlers’ record label, Beach Goth Records, so there is no outside force manipulating the band’s original sound.
Although it is a very familiar sound, the production and songwriting has improved. It’s cleaner than the band’s past work. The song has a different feel from what the band released on Gilded Pleasures or Chinese Fountain, the band’s last two albums released before City Club.
The most evident change comes with the single “California.” The song is the biggest step forward for the band out of the singles it released in 2017. It is an acoustic piece, with different background vocals that draw away from Nielsen’s lone, dry croon.
As The Growlers grow and expand as a group, one thing remains consistent: the quality of the music. No matter what label the band is on or who is producing it, The Growlers releases stay consistently strong.
Shelby Campbell is a freshman studying journalism and political science at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Shelby know by tweeting her @bloodbuzzohioan.
