Thank You, I’m Sorry’s third album Growing in Strange Places is an invitation into the world of the Minneapolis band. The project first emerged as the solo offering of vocalist and songwriter Lleen Dow, but has grown to include Bee Schreiner on the bass, Sage Livergood on drums, and Abe Anderson on guitar. What began as Dow, their voice, and a guitar has now expanded into a group that effortlessly blends DIY experimentation with anthemic ambition, fitting alongside Midwest emo of yore while still standing completely on its own.
Though those touchstones run throughout the record, the band also imbues Growing with 8-bit, punk, and even shred-heavy metal stylings. These ideas appear from song to song, but also over the course of a single track (see: “Autonomy Shop”), showcasing their instrumental and songwriting virtuosity in addition to an inviting approachability.
With the release out today via Count Your Lucky Stars Records, we had Dow break down the songs that encompass Growing in Strange Places, while sharing how Slaughter Beach, Dog, Horse Jumper of Love, and illuminati hotties (not to mention SpongeBob) inspired the record.
1. “Your Backyard”
I wrote this song at the beginning of the summer of 2020 right after moving back to Minneapolis. I had just moved into Bee’s guest room, and it was one of the first songs I wrote in that house. I had been listening to a ton of Slaughter Beach, Dog and was feeling especially inspired by Jake [Ewald]’s lyricism. “Your Backyard” follows my relationship with a friend named Jack a few years post–high school as we were stuck in our small Midwestern town together. Jack died in early 2021, and I was spending a lot of time revisiting our friendship. Jack was one of the only other out queer people at the school we went to, and there was always this feeling of having each other's backs. After he died, I got hit by these feelings of missing that closeness and the way you know people when you’ve grown up with them. There’s something special about knowing someone for their childhood.
2. “Autonomy Shop”
Thank You, I’m Sorry has been split by distance for basically our whole life as a band, and then the pandemic hit right as we were about to release our first full-band record. Everyone in the band found each other through Minneapolis’s DIY community, but I feel like we never quite got the full experience of getting to actually be a band playing these rowdy basement shows. I really wanted to write something that pays homage to our musical upbringings.
I’ve always had this love for 8-bit and chiptune sounds, and knew I wanted to incorporate that in some way to this song. Especially with the Scott Pilgrim reference in the middle, it really felt like the perfect opportunity to experiment with that video game–esque sound.
3. “Brain Empty”
Abe actually wrote, like, the whole song on his own. One day we were in his studio working on packing merch or something and he showed me the track. I wrote some throwaway lyrics and we threw them over it. The song initially reminded me a lot of MUNA’s “Silk Chiffon,” which is what the “I’m lacing up my boots tonight / Minidress on and I feel alright” line was inspired by. I thought about changing the lyrics, but the whole thing just felt so fun and it felt right to keep it the way it was at the moment.
4. “Mirror”
I had been in a songwriting rut for a minute where absolutely nothing was coming to me, so I stepped out of my usual routine by starting writing this one on bass. I had been listening to “Francis Forever” by Mitski on repeat, and was originally thinking of keeping this song with just bass and no guitar. I think adding the guitar was a great idea and adds a lot of punch. This whole record is focused on self-growth, working on yourself, and the feelings that come along with those things, and I think a big part of that is hitting these moments where you’re just so over it—moments where you’re sick of self-reflecting and sick of having to consciously make better decisions. Where no matter the amount of work you do, there’s always more to be done. “Mirror” apparently came to me in one of those moments.
5. “Self Improvement”
I feel like this one is the other side of the coin of the feeling I was detailing in “Mirror”; this one probably being a bit more solemn and defeated rather than aggravated. In reality, self-growth never stops, and there’s always going to be moments where you feel like you haven’t grown, but there’s also always going to be benefits from your growth and changes that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Anyway, we knew we wanted to keep most of this song really bare-bones, and I think the choice to have this moment when all of the instruments come in at once added so much intensity.
6. “Interlude”
I’d go ahead and say this record is pretty eclectic, which I love. A challenge of that is we really had to work to find a way to make these songs flow through one another. I’m pretty sure most of the sounds on this are just random ambient things sampled from Abe’s garage.
7. “Traincar”
I’m a huge fan of Horse Jumper of Love, and have spent a long time wanting to write something even remotely similar in sound. When I was living in Chicago I felt like I was constantly running into these people who I really did not want to be running into. “Traincar” is me reconciling with that feeling of being nervous because I saw someone on the train that I really didn't want to see, and then processing the feelings of not wanting to let them make me feel the emotions that their presence ultimately elicits.
8. “Chronically Online”
Abe was the last one to join the band after a year or so of being a close collaborator and recording our first record I’m Glad We’re Friends with us. This was the first song he brought to me to write with, and I feel like it really marked this dynamic shift in the band. When we were first practicing this song for our first tours post-pandemic (also ever, as a full band), we started practicing having the bridge section repeat so I’d be able to run into the crowd and dance around, which now happens almost every time we play this song live. We all had this moment where we just got so excited because we were finally becoming the band we wanted to be.
9. “Head Climbing”
My bandmates would be so mad at me if I divulge too much, but you could absolutely call this song a diss track. So much of this record was inspired by illuminati hotties’ Free IH: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For, and I wanted to keep up with the same sort of eclecticness. I never tend to write these really angry songs, and it just felt so good to really let it all out.
10. “This House”
To be totally honest, I wrote this song after listening to “Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers an insane amount of times and wanted to play around with similar chord shapes. At one point I had gotten a little too deep into true crime and it led to me being a bit terrified of leaving my house for a while. I still deal with that, but nowhere near to the same level. I can’t say I really recommend consuming true crime if you’re a person with anxiety.
11. “Parking Lots”
I just wanted to write a sweet little love song! It felt so out of our wheelhouse to write something so optimistic. I’m so happy I convinced my bandmates to sing the “oh-sha-la-las”, it’s so fun. With the whole theme of this record being about self-growth and self-acceptance, this song explores the validation of realizing that you can be loved and accepted by others, and how good it feels to let other people in.
12. “Lleeny Hut Jr.”
I feel like I need to make it clear that I am Lleen, and that the title of this song is a SpongeBob reference (Weenie Hut Jr.’s). Alongside “Parking Lots,” this is a song about hitting your limit with someone and simply being done with them. Again, going back to the theme of the record, for me a huge part of self-growth has been realizing when you deserve better. The voice memo in the middle of the song is from the day we took the photos for the cover of I’m Glad We’re Friends, where we had been smoking a joint. I think we all got focused on taking the pictures and forgot that we were also partaking, and by the time we’d finished the shoot we all looked at each other and realized how far gone we were. After sitting and collecting ourselves for a few hours, we drove to rehearsal and that’s when we took this voice memo. We were all still in a little bit of a haze and started having this wild conversation.
13. “As I Should Be”
The first record TYIS ever put out was a live-tracked acoustic solo record. I knew I wanted to have at least one fully acoustic song on the record to sort of revisit those roots. We live-tracked this one with Abe accompanying me and playing these bouncy acoustic riffs. This song is this really wholesome moment of self-acceptance and feeling of moving on. In my experience, a lot of self hate can come with working on yourself, and “As I Should Be” is the moment where you realize that the version of yourself you’ve painted isn't entirely accurate.
