Closing in on their 20-year anniversary, LA’s blues and hip-hop-infused indie pop/rock band Andy Frasco & The U.N. continue to mix sharp humor with often weighty issues on Growing Pains, their 10th studio album.
Though the band has always been willing to wade into the occasional deep lyrical waters in the past (though admittedly with plenty of sly humor and subtlety), this new record finds Frasco and company reflecting on growing up and mortality. That is apparent on the album’s first single, the undeniably catchy “Try Not To Die,” ticking through a litany of modern problems that ultimately don’t matter before culminating in the chorus “So pay all your bills/stay off the pills/Try not to die.”
On the title track, Frasco sings about the need to take life day-by-day, and on the mellow “Tears in My Cocaine,” he sings about trying to get over a broken heart over a mellow, picked acoustic guitar. Conversely, on the fantastic “Life Is Easy,” introed by a brilliant bluegrass guitar (courtesy of Billy Strings) he again clicks through a slew of life’s problems, before pivoting to how to make it through. Steve Poltz and Daniel Donato also guest on the track. Poltz, along with Chris Gelbuda and Andrew Cooney, helped co-write several other songs that make up the record.
Elsewhere, he teams up with G. Love and Eric Krasno on “Swinging For the Fences,” one of the most optimistic songs on the album – a truly joyous singalong – with a fantastic backing chorus, and a Springsteen-worthy horn section.
While Frasco and his band have justifiably built a bulletproof reputation around their raucous live sets, Growing Pains is a great reminder that they are just as strong in the studio as they are on the stage. The band’s music and Frasco’s lyrics here have been elevated, making for one of their best albums in an almost two-decade-long career. There may be some heady themes addressed across the record, but they are handled with a liberal dose of wit and charm.
