Portland, Oregon's Growing Pains Found Their Album Title Under a Bridge: Inside 'Daniel Loves Mandy Forever'

Growing Pains, the Portland, Oregon rock quartet, had their album title before they had the songs: singer Kalia Storer saw the words Daniel Loves Mandy Forever graffitied on the underside of a bridge, Willamette Week reported. The nine-song record arrived October 9 through Photo Finish.

A title found under a bridge

Willamette Week says the title was the very first element of the album to fall into place, and it pushed Storer toward writing love songs. "That established a romantic notion for the whole album," she told the paper.

The band wrote most of the songs during a songwriting retreat near Detroit, Oregon, in August 2024. Drummer Kyle Kraft recorded his first drum part a month later.

A School of Rock origin story

Guitarists Carl Taylor and Jack Havrilla formed the band in 2018 at Portland's School of Rock project, per Willamette Week. Storer sings and plays bass, and Kraft plays drums. Both guitarists were mentored by Alien Boy's Sonia Weber, and the paper notes Alien Boy gave the band "a crucial boost early on" by booking them on bills.

The band released their debut album, Heaven Spots, in October 2020, before any of the members were of drinking age. By 2023, Willamette Week called them one of Portland's most popular new rock bands and spotlighted the five-track EP Thought I Heard Your Car, recorded largely at Storer's house by Strange Ranger drummer Nathan Tucker.

They have since shared stages with Beabadoobee and Franz Ferdinand. Storer cites dream-pop band The Sundays, while Taylor told Willamette Week he was "really obsessed with the Beatles and a lot of '60s pop music" while working on the album.

"Crush" and the Mulholland Drive connection

The single "Crush" takes its cue from David Lynch's 2001 film Mulholland Drive, The Line of Best Fit reported. The band said the song is "about trying, but failing to comprehend the nature of desire with language," and asked, "How do you articulate the failure of language?" The outlet also notes the band draws on art museum trips, Bruce Springsteen and Roy Orbison.

Four singles, one toy rocket

"Swimming," "Drive," and "Crush" came before "Bottle Rocket," which The Needle Drop called the album's fourth single, describing the record as power-pop and indie rock-inspired. "This song was inspired by a childhood memory of trying to send a toy rocket afar," Taylor told the outlet.

The full tracklist runs "Theseus," "Slipstream," "Swimming," "Crush," "Drive," the title track, "Into the Slow Night," "Statesong" and "Bottle Rocket."

Where to listen and follow

Daniel Loves Mandy Forever is out now on Photo Finish and available on major streaming platforms.

Sources

Willamette Week — "Growing Pains Is Not a Teenage Band Anymore"
Willamette Week — "Growing Pains Has Become One of Portland's Most Popular New Rock Bands"
The Line of Best Fit — "Growing Pains share Mullholland Drive-inspired track, 'Crush'"
The Needle Drop — "Growing Pains release new single "Bottle Rocket" off new LP"