The Grownup Noise

Artists mining the territory between chamber pop and Americana aren't exactly a rarity right now — and everyone writing pop music worth listening to has been influenced by the Beatles or, for the slightly more adventurous, the Velvet Underground. The Grownup Noise started out writing songs that draw immediate comparisons...

By Tom Murphy

August 9, 2011

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Artists mining the territory between chamber pop and Americana aren't exactly a rarity right now — and everyone writing pop music worth listening to has been influenced by the Beatles or, for the slightly more adventurous, the Velvet Underground. The Grownup Noise started out writing songs that draw immediate comparisons to classic bands with a strong sense of melody, but they transcend their influences by offering more than a handful of hackneyed adolescent tropes. In layering dynamics and interlocking rhythms, the Noise has created a body of songs that seem as literary as they are musical. Fans of White Rabbits will appreciate the group's knack for turning the introspective into the visceral without sacrificing an ounce of tunefulness.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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