Jared Mees and The Grown Children

about

Despite its title, Only Good Thoughts Can Stay is not an anthem for blind faith in simple pleasures. Pairing sometimes dark lyrical matter with uptempo major-chord progressions, the newest album from Portland, Oregon’s Jared Mees and the Grown Children examines the give-and-take inherent in struggles for self-fulfillment while walking a tightrope between naive exuberance and cynical skepticism. This balancing act results in a sound that is joyful yet introspective; a rollicking Americana tale of modern life, be it hellish or heavenly. Backing him up on this record are Grown Children Megan Spear, Mees' long-time harmonic partner, keyboardist, and percussionist; Javier Madrigal on lead guitar and trumpet; Quilty Kim on bass and backing vocals; and drummer Joe Bowden. Spear's soaring vocals are the Yin to Mees' gravely, half-spoken Yang, while Madrigal's jangly guitar solos add a rich complexity to the band's pop aesthetic. In Bowden, the newest addition to the recently solidified lineup, Mees has found a linchpin: a rock drummer who has the chops and energy to drive the songs forward, but also the dynamics and sensibility to underscore rather than overpower them. This finesse serves the album well as it expands and contracts between spare, twinkling piano melodies tapped out on Spear's keyboard and boisterous swells of guitars, strings, horns, and choral arrangements. From the first euphoric lines of album-opener "Hungry Like a Tiger" (“I’m breathing good air, through good lu

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Indie Rock Playlist: November (2008)

Caffeine, Alchohol, Sunshine, Money

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Indie/Rock Playlist: August (2011)

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Indie/Rock Playlist: June (2011)

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Indie/Rock Playlist: July (2011)

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Indie/Rock Playlist: Best Of (2011)

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Indie/Rock Playlist: May (2011)

Only Good Thoughts Can Stay

Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money

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Indie/Rock Playlist: November (2008)

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Indie Rock Playlist May

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Indie Recs | Oct 2011

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