Los Angeles – Poor Colleen Green – she tries so hard to become a more mature, responsible and secure person. The title of her second record for Hardly Art, I Want To Grow Up, says it all. But even by the 15-minute mark, it is clear that Green still has a long way to go to achieve the growth she so desperately longs. While the opening track “I Want to Grow Up” begins with the proclamation “I want to grow up/I really do/Cause I am sick of being immature/I want to be responsible,” the three songs that follow see Green behaving as if she completely forgot about growing up; she goes into great detail about less-than-adult topics like inexplicable love for an insane boyfriend, a life-long love of television’s steadfast companionship, and an unexplainably miniscule attention span. I Want to Grow Up (out this week) may not see Colleen Green fully accepting adulthood, but it does show the Los Angeles-based pop punker making strong improvements as a songwriter and embracing studio-level production values.
After regressing into the aforementioned immature topics on “Wild One,” “TV,” and first single “Pay Attention,” it is almost as if Green comes to her senses on the album’s fifth track, “Things That Are Bad for Me (Part 1).” Over some nifty glam-rock riffing in the verse and chorus, she proclaims that the self-destructive elements of her life will be put to an immediate end – “I really want to get better…It really shouldn’t be that hard.” However, this moment of clarity lasts all of three minutes. With a plodding riff and almost-mumbled vocals, the subsequent track “Things That Are Bad for Me (Part 2)” sees Green relapsing back into her old habits – getting fucked up on anything and everything she can get her hands on, because “I need to feel something/Or else I might freak out.” She is clearly having a hard time embracing this whole “growing up” thing.
With the exception of “Things That Are Bad for Me (Part 2)” and the slightly out-of-place 80’s throwback “Deeper than Love,” most of the songs on I Want To Grow Up are fast-paced and have a strong emphasis on stuffing as many hooks into the verses and choruses as possible. While early Colleen Green albums were entirely home-produced and utilized an ancient drum machine, I Want To Grow Up sees the musician for the first time entering a traditional studio with outside assistance.
Recorded at Nashville’s Sputnik Sound with locals Jack Orrall of JEFF The Brotherhood and Casey Weissbuch of Diarrhea Planet serving as her backing band, the uptick in production value is a net positive for Green’s sound. With a full band filling in the sonic nooks and crannies, Colleen Green is beginning to take on her own unique sound that is influenced by similarly well-produced early-90’s power pop groups like Elastica and Imperial Teen. While she may have initially gained notoriety alongside the massive wave of trendy lo-fi fuzz punk bands, I Want To Grow Up’s evolution in sound sees Colleen Green leaving many of those also-rans in the dust.
While she has yet to announce a full tour in support of I Want To Grow Up, Coleen Green will be playing a handful of March dates throughout Southern California. Check her Facebook for any information on upcoming shows.
Matt Matasci
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