The second album from LA-based collective Grouplove finally gets its UK release.

Grouplove follow-up 2011's highly successful 
Never Trust a Happy Song with a equally as trippy, psychedelic punk-pop collection of songs.

Grouplove - Spreading Rumours OUT NOW 7/10

Opening track
Borderlines and Aliens, with its Japanese “Arri arri gatto” chorus is a noisy and uproarious start to Grouplove’s second album.
Schoolboy is more in the vein of the likes of say
Colours off their sparky debut, less trashy and more harmony. Single and album highlight is the lively and funky
Ways to Go. Mixing synth beats with the trademark double vocals from Christian Zucconi and Hannah Hooper it presents a much softer and playful version of Grouplove, adding layers to their song-writing that can sometimes be hidden under the thrash guitars.
Sit Still is a more acoustic song, with a raucous sweary chorus and plinky plonky piano it is almost a folk song. The ambitious, unintentionally pretentious
Hippy Hill is a rare misfire, overlong and a little laborious it doesn’t quite sit alongside the snazzy other songs.
What I Know has elements of the Pixies in their glory days, shouty but melodic compared to
Sit Still it could almost be mistaken for being by a completely different band.
Bitin the Bullet is an epic four-minute scratchy, stop-starting song, at this length it gets a little tedious and could have been trimmed slightly to ease off the repetitiveness. They conclude the album with the acoustic, ballad-like
Save the Party for Me, it’s a vastly different song from
Borderlines and Aliens, sweetly sad it shows their ability to switch between genres whilst still retaining their own sound. http://youtu.be/VGvHnDeS12o While not a massive departure from their debut,
Spreading Rumours  is never miserable or testing, if it was an animal it would be without a doubt a puppy. Lively, excitable and full of boundless energy, much like their exhilarating live performances (read our review here) Zucconi and Hooper bounce off each other while their refusal to stick to one sound makes for a varied, if slightly chaotic at times musical journey. Even the album art has a suitable psychedelic vibe. Like their debut
Never Trust a Happy Song there are moments of pure punk-pop genius (
Way to Go, Didn’t Have to Go) but it doesn’t quite sustain the brilliance for the whole album.
http://www.grouplovemusic.com/

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