CMJ Music Marathon 2008 Day 4: Growing

Unfortunately, due to a room crammed full of folk, my original plan to see Gang Gang Dance was curtailed, and I ended up finishing out the evening with Growing. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Creating a dense sound that utilized a combination of drones and a collage of tweaked sounds and samples, Growing not only proved to be one of the best bands on the Social Registry roster, but also one of the best in modern music. The last time I saw them, a few years ago, they were opening for Mogwai, and the set was much less inspired. Since then, they’ve learned to feed off each other, especially when improvising, rather than getting lost in their own worlds. Like their name suggests, this is a band that continues to grow.

—John Bohannon