buffaBLOG - The Buffalo music blog: grouplove

Showing posts with label grouplove. Show all posts

buffablog road trip, Cliff, grouplove, rochester, Tor-Buff-Chester, water street music hall — 0 comments

buffaBLOG Roadtrip: Grouplove

The Buffalo to Rochester magic bus is fueled up for another jaunt to our neighbors to the East and eastern end of Tor-Buff-Chester, Rochester to check out Los Angeles band Grouplove at the Water Street Music Hall along with Atlantic Records labelmates The Knocks and Saints Of Valory. Originally scheduled for Bill Gray's Ice Plex, this stop on the 2013 Campus Consciousness Tour got moved to Water Street Music Hall to meet demand, and with a new album (Spreading Rumours), an aggressively infectious sound, and an omnipresent new hit single it's not hard to see why.

Grouplove made a modest splash a few years back with their debut Never Trust A Happy Song that resulted in a few of their songs finding their way into successful ad campaigns, making them a Shazam worthy act for this smartphone driven, post MTV viral era. With some high profile festival appearances under their belts and attendant buzz, it will be interesting to check them out in the intimate and close quarters of Water Street and see how they measure up live. Billed as "half music tour, half environmental and social consciousness campaign," this tour also features NYC electronica outfit The Knocks, who recently collaborated with St Lucia for their new single "Modern Hearts;" and would be arena rockers Saints Of Valory from Austin, TX. Doors open at 6pm, with the show starting at 7pm. Price is $35, and tickets are still available.

Album review, grouplove, joe speranza, spreading rumors — 1 comments

Album Review: Grouplove - Spreading Rumours

Listening to Spreading Rumours, the new album by Grouplove, really illustrates the role that impartiality plays in reviewing an album. There is nothing overtly bad about it, but I find it incredibly annoying. I should admit that before we get started. At its best, it’s (very generously) an infectious sonic smorgasbord, but at its worst, it’s an infuriating collection of cute-pop diddies. There is no middle ground.

Grouplove are a talented bunch, and they know exactly who they are. They play catchy, shallow music, and they've become immensely popular by doing so. You may remember “Tongue Tied” from a few years ago – they played it a few times on the radio, I think. It was a new, fresh sound, and the song really took off. Unfortunately, there is nothing new or fresh on Spreading Rumours.

I've been listening to Spreading Rumors for about two days, which basically means that this review is a crapshoot. But it’s not a very exciting album. It's like if Foster The People and Fun. tried to record an album and things didn't go so well. By this I mean that it's cute and quirky likeSome Nights, but nobody in Grouplove can sing like Nate Ruess, and the music isn’t as infectious as Torches.

The back-and-forth style of singing on Spreading Rumours conjures up images of a harmonic game of tag. I don't particularly like it, which is strange, because I particularly like Of Monsters and Men and the entire My Head is an Animal album is also a harmonic game of tag. The difference, maybe, is that My Head is an Animal is an especially harmonic game of tag, played in a quiet meadow, whereas Spreading Rumours is an especially irritating game of tag, played blindfolded, inside a Whole Foods.

But before this officially becomes a discussion of a popular schoolyard game, and before I forget that this is supposed to be an actual review of an actual album, let me say this: if this album is playing at a place where I’m supposed to be dancing, I will probably get down. I just won’t ask who it is. The blend of hard-rock and synth-pop on the curiously-named second track, "Borderlines and Aliens," is as contagious as the common cold. But it’s no “Tongue Tied.”

You may argue with me here, and certainly, popularity does not imply quality. And of course, there will be groups of people who love this album. But Grouplove, at least with Spreading Rumours, aren't trying to put one over on us. What you hear is what they are. And what you hear is a band with an exceptional set of skills, playing cute-music that belies their actual talent. The tenth track, "Didn't Have To Go," is a good example. The beat is sick, and the combination of back-and-forth and multi-layered vocals is a nice touch, but the chorus consists of the line "You didn't have to goooo," being repeated over and over, and that’s exactly what I want to do. I want to go. I want to go someplace where this album is no longer playing.

Grade: C-

best of 2013, camp counselors, david bowie, ghost, grouplove, jeannette, jon, josh gordon, Kurt Vile, michael, mount kimbie, smart house, sonorous gale — 0 comments

buffaBLOG's Best of 2013 (so far): Part 2

Editor's note: If you missed any of yesterday's selections, you can check them out here.

Jon Krol

Album: David Bowie - The Next Day

This pick should come as no surprise to those who know me. I pretty much worship at the altar of Bowie-anything, and, despite his relatively weak output in the nineties and early 2000's, looked forward to this album with hot anticipation. Let's just say I wasn't disappointed. The Next Day hearkened back to Bowie's bygone era, the Berlin Trilogy, which was arguably his strongest moment as a songwriter and creative provocateur. After his limelight faded a bit in the late seventies, Bowie moved to Berlin and released Heroes, Lodger, and Low, three criminally overlooked albums in the pantheon of rock history. During that time, Bowie experimented with soundscapes and angular post-rock. The end result was something rock had rarely seen, a truly unique exploration of the medium. Listening to The Next Day, I felt like Bowie was continuing this journey. The songs were undeniably rock-oriented with pop hooks and guitar crunch for days. They were something more though. Vibe and attitude as only Bowie can pull off, the songs were interesting, and they felt fresh and new. After ten years off, it was as if Bowie re-discovered that inner spirit. Still exploring, in search of that perfect pop song, Bowie pushed himself and the end result was an album that ranks amongst his very finest.

Song: Ghost - "Year Zero"

Ghost (or Ghost B.C. as the lawyers call them), are undeniably retro. Dressed as faceless, robed monks and led by a ghoul known only as Papa Emeritus, it is easy to write them off as a hokey throwback and a gimmick. However, Ghost is anything but. Their refreshing brand of melodic, proto-metal reminds me of Gypsy-era Mercyful Fate if Mercyful Fate had a pop singer instead of King Diamond. The band's popularity skyrocketed recently and that is as much due to their unbelievably catchy songs, as it is their persona. Check out "Year Zero" for instance, off the excellent Infestissumam, a creepy, crawling track that is as epic and fun as it is enthralling. Their appeal has no bounds and neither does this song. You either get it or you don't. I grew up with Venom and KISS. I get it.

Michael Moretti

Album: Camp Counselors - Huntress

I don’t know if Buffalo has always been this talented or I have just been more in-tune with what has been emerging between writing for this blog and doing the WBNY Local Show but 2013 saw impressive releases from JOHNS, The Malones, Merchants, Bearhunter, Aircraft, Jack Topht, Space Wolves, and Tony Flaminio. It is going to be very difficult for the committee to narrow down the top 20 songs for Buffalo in December 2013. Although all of those albums are strong in their own right, my absolute favorite local release of 2013 is Camp Counselors’ haunting horror-movie inspired full-length, Huntress. Camp Counselors is the side-project of Cemeteries mastermind, Kyle Reigle. Huntress plays out exactly like the score to an 80’s horror movie, at times brave and motivating- at others eerie and sullen. It is almost as if it is a dreamy electro musical for ghosts. I could not understand or tell you one lyric from Huntress, as Reigle ghoulishly wails and doesn’t really enunciate any of the lyrics, but that makes it surprisingly stronger. If you are a fan of The Knife, M83, or the xx, then you need to hear Camp Counselors’ Huntress.

Song: Smart House - "Car Ride"

I believe fellow buffaBLOG writer, Brian Gorman, clued me in on local electro musician Alek Ogadzhanov and his various projects (Alek Ogadzhanov, Bratya, and Smart House) late last winter. When I first heard Smart House’s “Car Ride,” I remember shaking my head in disbelief that this was coming out of Buffalo. “Car Ride” is a three minute and 32 second , driving instrumental track a la The Cure or Wild Nothing. For some reason, this track reminds me of packing into a car and driving far away to see a show. I picture myself Billy Corgan-ing in the “1979” video to this song.

Jeannette Chin

Album: Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Faultless Youth

When asked about their second album, Cold Spring Faultless Youth, the newly signed to Warp duo, Mount Kimbie, reported that unlike their first album, the music was largely inspired by elements of live performance, the approach towards songwriting being stimulated by being on tour for months on end without interruption. This difference in approach is easily traceable for Mount Kimbie fans upon listening to Cold Spring Faultless Youth. Brought to the forefront are melodies driven by electric guitars and synthesizers, rhythms that compel listeners to bob their head, and, perhaps the most surprising, the unrestrained use of vocals. That's right, in this album, the duo take turns singing discernible lyrics to discernible melodies. Two of the songs ("You Took Your Time" and "Meter, Pale, Tone") even feature the vocal magic of their music peer, King Krule.

Despite having gravitated toward song-writing structures that some of us would lightly consider more "traditional," effectively stamped on each track is their unique signature, the sonic template of their style, whose appearance in 2009 had music critics speculating about the end of dub step. The duo was then listed among the list of artists leading what's left of it into a new era. Crackly textures, sudden transitions, idiosyncratic key signatures, scrambled drum patterns, and melodies that take multiple listenings to register, to fully coagulate inside our heads as listeners. It's all unmistakably packed in there. Moreover, their approach to vocals, to lyrics (with the aid of King Krule), is something that will be appreciated by those who pay homage to language considered to be poetry. Personally for me, out of any recent releases, it most closely resembles what I would imagine a Beat-Revival would sound like. Anyways, all this just scratches the surface of why, out of any album released this year, this one continues to be the most interesting for me to listen on repeat. Listen to it yourself and let me know what you think.

Song: Kurt Vile - "Girl Called Alex"

For me and many others, Kurt Vile is a significant songwriter because he effectively portrays the voice of youthful indifference. A sort of vague, widespread ideological climate that can puncture a generation. In my mind, his music listens like a halo of apathy; fueled by nostalgia and as tender as it is reckless. It is also impressive, in more ways than one, you can't help but admire his handle on the guitar, his intuitive songwriting, but you're also impressed that he managed to pull himself out of bed to record it. Overall, "Girl Called Alex" plays like a pure extract of everything Kurt Vile is good at, guitars that lull your head to the clouds, symphony moments, simple lyrics with bursts of rawness, and making you feel as though you are not alone in your strangeness. "I wanna live all the time in my fantasy infinity."

Josh Gordon

Album: Sonorous Gale - The Total Overcomers: A Saga

These have been some weird times for the Gale. Rumor has it they joined a cult who forced them to change their name and wear identical blue polo shirts in public. I hear tell they were ready to drink the Kool-Aid and rendezvous with the mothership floating somewhere above the southbound lane of the I-190, but snapped out of it just in time. Thank God (or Marshall Applewhite, if that's your thing). They've lived to tell the tale and their latest four-track EP is the result. Buffalo sludge has never sounded so good.

Song: Grouplove - "Ways to Go"

Maybe this is why I ~~always get laid~~ never get laid, because I'd be just as happy strapped into hip waders, slogging through the tarry peat bog of sludge rock with the stoners and the punks as I would be in loafers and salmon-pink shorts, drinking cheap beer with the "cool" kids. But neither clique will have me - and that's just the way I like it. I'm a rebel, baby, a real lone wolf. I'm also a sucker for synths, female vocals, and skeleton body suits - and Grouplove have all that in spades. The video for "Ways to Go" is the bee's knees (or the beloved leader's pajamas, if that's your thing). I've been pressing play every four minutes now for weeks. It's been days since I've heard from my family. But that's all right - this my family now. You are all my family. Hey, wait, anyone else feel funny? My eyes are burning. My legs are...No. Stop! This isn'tfunan y !!!more Don'tdoit,..,don't dtringk the Kool-

grouplove, michael, picking up the slack for mtv — 1 comments

Picking Up The Slack For MTV: Grouplove - "Ways to Go"

Yesterday, Grouplove, the NYC-based electro pop outfit, released the video for their single “Ways to Go.” Chances are, you are probably going to see the video while browsing the internet at some point this month and you might as well see it here first. The video features the quintet playing a house show in a young Kim Jong-Un’s childhood home. “Ways to Go” cuts in and out of scenes of skeleton-clad Hannah Hooper and a very Kurt Cobain-y Christian Zucconi going H.A.M. in the Jong ballroom alongside a pre-adolescent Kim Christopher Walken “Weapon of Choice”-ing throughout the mansion, stumbling upon tortured westerners. Yeah you read that right. Also, I’m pretty sure that’s Annyong holding the boom microphone in the beginning.

;