NOAHFINNCE's 'Growing Up On The Internet' : A Review

Just about a year ago, I reviewed Metallica’s newest album, asking the question whether after 42 years, the band could still produce original bangers. 

This year, the question is now different – ‘Growing Up On The Internet’ is NoahFinnce’s debut album and if we were to draw parallels, I guess we could ask – will he be making music 42 years from now?

Of course, I don’t want this article to be a comparison between Metallica and NoahFinnce. Not only do I want to review Noah in his own right, but his music is also a completely different (though just as powerful) style compared to Metallica’s: alternative rock/pop-punk.

NoahFinnce is also relatively unknown, and I think he deserves an introduction. His first song, “Asthma Attack '', was released in December 2018 and since then, he’s released a good dozen singles and EPs, the most listened to being “Life’s A Bit” and “Stupid”. Noah was also making song covers on his YouTube channel since 2016, and starting at a similar time, also using the platform to catalogue his female-to-male transition journey. He became most renown for his x months on T videos, recording the evolution of his voice while taking testosterone. Nowadays, his videos revolve mostly around reacting to different LGBTQ+ related memes, TikToks, etc. Though his videos mostly keep a light-hearted tone, he doesn’t avoid or ignore the issues and inequalities LGBTQ+ people are confronted with, especially those a part of the trans community. Lately, he – along with many other trans content creators – has been much more vocal around calling out transphobia and transphobes. This has also become a much bigger part of his music. 

In late 2023, when announcing his album, he released the song “Scumbag” – a big callout on TERFs, trans-exclusionary radical feminists, most notably J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter series and universe. The lyrics and video are a big, unashamed middle finger to the writer who, through her outspokenness against trans folk, is causing huge damage. 

The album’s opening song, “Kinda Love It”, and the penultimate, “Lovely Ladies'', are also both callouts of transphobic rhetoric. Oozing with both pride in queerness, and a sarcasm toward the claims of bigots, these songs utilise all aspects of the pop-punk genre in order to make this statement of trans pride and anti-bigotry. A big part of his listeners are trans or otherwise a part of the LGBTQ+ community themselves, and it’s certainly very empowering to hear music where he explicitly discusses this aspect of himself, and the world around us.

Another theme that Noah explores on this album is that of neurodiversity and mental health. One of the songs that has gotten the best responses is “Alexithymia”, where the singer explores the aspects of his autism that make him struggle with understanding and expressing his own emotions and feelings. Though this is a theme that has played a part in his music from his very first songs, it manages to really shine in this album. It’s also important to note that neurodiversity isn’t a greatly explored topic in music, especially in such an explicit way as NoahFinnce does. Therefore, the songs on this album that do so can be some of the first times neurodiverse people hear this sort of representation.

When speaking of this topic, I feel the need to underline one of my personal favourites from this album (which was not released as a single beforehand), which is “Subtitles”. This song is a bang in the middle of the record, and is somewhat of a calmer one between the headbanging bops all around it. Noah, however, sings it with just as much power as all the other songs, truly showing his ability to express himself with all the different manners granted by the rock genre. 

In conclusion, NoahFinnce’s first album is absolutely promising for a long and fruitful career in music. Having listened to the album multiple times now, I have just as much fun now as I did the first time. The songs pull me in, the lyrics are very thoughtful, and powerful in what they express. Whether it be Noah’s experience with neurodiversity, or a callout to transphobes, the message has punch. The music is catchy and energetic, so it’s impossible for me to listen to this album without  moving and living the music out though my body. None of the songs sound like or blur into each other, as they all have very distinct elements – spoken interludes, electronic elements, guitar solos, etc. 

From the midnight release on March 8th to now, a month later, I have listened to this album and/or individual tracks from it many, many times, and they do not get old. NoahFinnce’s approach to pop-punk and alternative rock allow him to use these genres in a way that I have not heard done before. He puts all of himself into his music, and truly utilises it to tell his own stories, and give his opinion. Punk and rock sometimes don’t seem like the most accessible styles, but I think Noah manages to make them so, notably through his songs’ lyrics. Though they often have a sarcastic quality to them, they are very clear in what they’re expressing, making them relatable to many. Of course, if you’re not an enjoyer of any kind of harder and rougher music, it can be hard to get into. However, I’m sure it’s also possible to enjoy this purely for its poetry and messaging. 

All in all, I am an absolute fan of this album. All songs are, for me, successes, and NoahFinnce certainly has a long career ahead of him. 

In the titular song of the album, he says: “I wanna wreck it!”

And that he did, in the best way possible!