This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
I toyed with the idea of including this disc in a roundup of local CDs. After all, Mico singer-guitarist John Stewart is from Winnipeg. He used to be with hometown punk stalwarts Red Fisher. Mico’s new disc — their second full-length — is on local label G7. Hell, even the album pictures are local scenes shot by a city photographer.
What stopped me? Well, partly the fact that Stewart has made his home in Alberta for nearly a decade. And the fact that his music has also moved beyond the youthful exuberance of Fisher. Outside the Unbearable Grows is a far more seasoned and thoughtful outing. Stewart’s articulate lyrics make direct eye contact. His everyman yelp delivers anthemic emo-punk philosophy and soaring power-pop sincerity. And it all happens over crisply snappy beats and a wall of guitars that churn up gleaming bits of melody like shards of glass being washed ashore at high tide. Credit the band’s three-guitar lineup for that last bit of beauty. But credit Stewart for making Unbearable very bearable indeed.
