Recording sessions for Growing Up took place at Music Friends in Los Angeles from June to October 2021.

Growing Up received generally favorable reviews from critics and appeared on multiple 2022 year-end lists.

Skateboarder Ray Barbee and Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna made cameos in the music videos for the four singles released from the album: "Oh!

[5] The band subsequently released an EP containing covers of Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" and the Muffs' "Big Mouth".

[citation needed] In May 2021, the Los Angeles Public Library posted a video of the band playing their original song "Racist, Sexist Boy" at an Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month event.

[6] The video became a viral social media hit, earning praise from Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Red Hot Chili Peppers's Flea,[6] Thurston Moore,[7] Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna,[8] and Kid Cudi.

[13][14] Salazar described the pandemic as "super overwhelming", and noted that the band would wear masks and practice outside.

[15][8] Mila subsequently met with Wong on a five-hour Zoom call, during which they wrote "Racist, Sexist Boy".

[16] Growing Up was recorded and mixed at Music Friends, Carlos de la Garza's backyard studio.

The album is centered on themes of growing up, discovering oneself,[18] and anxieties that arise in adolescence.

[5] Rolling Stone editor Lisa Tozzi says the title track "celebrates the intense friendships ... and simple pleasures of youth, but also nods to the very normal desire to speed through the scary and awkward parts of adolescence".

[b] For example, The Skinny editor Tony Inglis wrote that the album "channel[s] riot grrrl fury and [...] catchy garage pop melodies".

", has been compared musically to the soundtrack of the film Josie and the Pussycats (2001),[19] as well as Joan Jett and Ramones.

[17] The song "Nino" contains elements of power pop and is similar to the music of La Luz and Blondie.

[42][43] Fashion designer Humberto Leon directed the music video for "Growing Up", which features the band playing dress-up.

The video, directed by Elizabeth Ito, is a tribute to the film The Decline of Western Civilization (1981).

[48][49][50] The band also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing their song "Oh!".

[25] The Skinny editor Tony Inglis called it "a light-of-foot album" that has simple concepts and fun riffs.

[60] Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic called the album a "ridiculously catchy burst of wide-eyed, youthful anthems".

[58] Loud and Quiet criticized the album's production, calling the combination of the guitar and bass tracks a "mound of sludge".

praised the album for its production, noting that the band benefited from having access to Carlos de la Garza, rather than having to mail demo tracks to studios.