Widescreen indie rock with a penchant for superficiality.
When does a band become a one-hit wonder? Do you have to disappear completely into oblivion after the one hit that outshines everything? Or can you continue to be moderately successful without ever picking up where you left off? Be that as it may, Grouplove’s big hit was 2011’s Tongue Tied, and since then there have been a couple of albums that, while not entirely unsuccessful, never quite matched the debut.
Now the sixth long-player appears and what can one say: not much has changed on the musical side. The somewhat dirty, whiny voice, the simple chord progressions, the refrains that soar to stadium size: everything sounds so much like the widescreen indie rock of the 2010s à la Cold War Kids, Vampire Weekend & Co. that you could call it nostalgic could.
If only Grouplove hadn’t been there back then. So you can accuse the band rather of lack of movement. After all, the sound is great: producer John Congleton has done a great job with the crystal-clear piano, the groovy bass and the fat guitars. Now if only the band could think of how to fill the high production quality with equally interesting ideas! So it remains – except for “Climb”, which convinces with driving drums, wafting synthesizer lines and Hannah Hooper’s aggressive vocals – with a lot of shine and little substance.
Author: Elias Pietsch