The album kicks off with "Itchin' On A Photograph", starting out with a barrage of handclaps and the smooth lead vocals of Christian Zucconi and the upbeat guitar licks provide this song with a strong emotional boost that makes you feel good as you listen to it all the way through. My favorite song off the album is a song that I'm sure you've heard plenty of times, "Tongue Tied". The song is littered with upbeat keyboard arrangements and the pairing of Christian's vocals with keyboardist Hannah Hooper that provides for an indelible one-two vocal combo that is an outrageous and raucous listening experience that is something to behold and is one of the top songs of 2012 heard so far. "Colours" is a steady and focused rocker that blends in melodic guitar riffs and Christian's onpoint vocal delivery that give this song a bloodrush of vivacity and hits at a different angle than the previous songs did and presents the band in a more diverse frame of mind and shows their full capabilities as musicians and how they interact with one another. "Slow" is a song that accurately reflects the songs' tempo and laid back nature with elegant instrumentation presented before you that make this song a fascinating listen and a journey inside their framework and the way they construct these intricately designed compositions. "Naked Kids" is a roll your car windows down type of song with upbeat, bombastic rhythms that provide for an extremely enjoyable listen with Christian and Hannah's dual vocal combination holding up all the instrumentation afoot here and providing a backdrop for the rest of the album to follow.
We venture into the disc's second half and come across "Betty's A Bombshell" a passionate, intricately designed song that goes into ballad territory with its low key nature providing for an extremely enjoyable listen and one that is user accessible by anyone. "Chloe" has a roaring, intense drumbeat brought forth courtesy of drummer Ryan Rabin who also acts as the album's producer, ensuring that the album sounds just as it intended while they were in the studio mapping this out and acts as a representative of the band as well, maintaining the Grouplove sound. We head into the disc's closing tracks with "Cruel and Beautiful World", a folk leaning tune that ushers in the album's closing minutes and shows off the group's capabilities of handling different genres with remarkable aplomb and maturity that is found in only sparse amounts from other bands out there in the scene today. The disc concludes with "Close Your Eyes and Count To Ten", a intricate, passionate tune with Christian and Hannah displaying their strong musical partnership with themselves and the rest of the band that shows you how well these guys work together and how they are on the same page musically each and every time they play together, a wonderful way to close out the disc. The genesis of Grouplove began in 2009 when Hannah met Christian in NYC after becoming very fond of his music. Hannah later invited Christian to an artist retreat in Crete that she was leaving for, and it was there that they met the other members of the band Andrew Wessen, Ryan Rabin, and Sean Gadd and like they say, the rest is history and the band known as Grouplove was formed out of the band's friendship with one another and their uncanny ability to communicate with one another in the language of music which is the essence of how all great friendships are formed.
In conclusion, a solid and well produced album by Grouplove, who have made a strong first impression with a dynamic and consistent effort that boldly represents the group's sound and their mission to bring people inside their musical tent and discover what the group is all about and what they can offer you as well.
Album Score: 4/5
Track Listing:
- Itchin' On A Photograph
- Tongue Tied
- Lovely Cup
- Colours
- Slow
- Naked Kids
- Spun
- Betty's a Bombshell
- Chloe
- Love Will Save Your Soul
- Cruel and Beautiful World
- Close Your Eyes and Count To Ten
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