The Daily Spin, March 24
Grouplove | Spreading Rumours
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Spreading Rumours (2013)
Artist: Grouplove
Link:
Earlier this morning, I was having a discussion with some friends about the absolute staying power of FIFA soundtracks - composed in the tens of electropop, indie, and rock. It was those scores that helped me fine-tune so much of my understanding of what I look for in music. FIFA 14, even now, is one of my favorite compilations of all time - and I genuinely don’t think there’s been a better video game soundtrack, certainly not one composed of songs not specifically made for said game.
Grouplove are an integral part of that early tens ‘sport game’ genre, alongside contemporaries like The Royal Concept, Empire of the Sun, and Saint Motel, and their two albums released in 2011 and 2013 (Never Trust A Happy Song and Spreading Rumours) are almost anthemic in that regard.
Where Grouplove are particularly good is in the feeling of their music - it’s so authentic, somewhere in the middle of Vampire Weekend and The Lumineers, the sort of songs you’d probably hear at a campfire or in a coming-of-age movie. It’s crackly and raspy in all the right ways, feels imperfectly perfect, balancing a sense of carved out life through raw vocals with precise instrumentation.
Rating: 8.1/10
Best Tracks: Ways To Go; I’m with You
Worst Tracks: Borderlines and Aliens