Yesterday was the day I discovered Grouplove. Might as well mark it as a milestone on my Facebook timeline because I’ve found my soul mate.

For the past few months, Foster the People‘s debut album Torches has been on rotate in my current album cache. I was amazed by the sound of Torches from the get-go. The sup-tenor vocals, interesting melodic motifs, and heavy electronic orientation are out of this world. I’ve been looking for something like it, but with a more genuine sound. I hadn’t had any luck on Pandora or Spotify so I made a sacrifice to the music gods and turned on the radio. Lo and behold, the Gods were good and bestowed upon me Grouplove‘s “Tongue Tied” on radio 92.9 WBOS for my listening pleasure. Instantly, my Foster the People spell was broken.

 

 

“Tongue Tied” makes you instantly want–no, need to sing. Strike that. It fills you with the burning desire to scream your head off.  It was a glorious four minutes. I can only imagine what my fellow travelers on I-95 were thinking.

Upon arrival home, I bought the album Never Trust a Happy Song on iTunes (something I don’t normally do– but man,  it was that infectious). I was just as energized by the rest of the album that I stayed up until 3am listening to it– learning it: letting it breathe into my very being.

The slightly out-of-tune vocals add something so special and emotional to each track. It’s a balanced mix of electronic and real instruments (the perfect rebound album after my love affair with Foster The People).  The melody lines are catchy, the hooks are refreshing and there’s a nice blend of male and female vocals, especially on “Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten,” the final, impressionable track. The voices blend and play off each other nicely and at times remind me a bit of Mates of State in playfulness and affect. Acoustic instruments add a nice nostalgia to the  instrumentation that’s sixties-like (check out “Love Will Save Your Soul”) but it’s redirected by droning swells that build to a climactic ending or breakdown in many of the songs.

In addition to the great sounding album, Grouplove has offered up some excellent music videos including “Colours,” the album’s first single.

 

They “call it life,” but I call it one hell of a good listen.

It’s nice to see an eclectic band from the east coast, and though they’re not coming anywhere near Boston on their current tour, I forgive them.

 

They’re on at 5:05pm Pacific time on the Mojave stage at Coachella tomorrow evening, so there’s always the live Youtube feed.