So it has come to this. It's the end of the year, people are already making their top whatever albums of the year lists, consisting of the usual; Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, Sunset Rubdown's Dragonslayer, but what is an album that is great but is an unexpected pick for a top albums list? Something that no one bothered to pay attention to in 2009, because let's face it; 2009 was a pretty bad year for music. Nearly everything lacked originality and the hottest music trends were what musicians were turning their heads toward. Well, I've found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. After all of the time spent digging for something that will blow my mind, 2009 has given us our gift in return. It's Grooms' album Rejoicer.
Even a description so brief of the album should get you to buy it: think about all of your favorite 90's bands (Sonic Youth, Polvo, Pavement) and combine their sounds, but not only that, add a hefty amount of originality to it as well. That is honestly what Rejoicer is in a nutshell, I guarantee it. Now, I'm not saying that Grooms are entirely original; nothing this year has been. But I am saying that you won't hear anything else like this, at the moment. There's a possibility that something in the future will have at least a similar sound to Grooms but--enough jibber-jabber.
Rejoicer is one of those albums that from the moment you hear that first guitar note, you know you are going to like this album. Every song has nearly 10-20 parts in them; every time the band switches gears it sounds like a completely different band, one of which you can't pinpoint. The guitar tone is great; it'll change from a Thurston Moore-esque tone and occasionally switch to Women-esque trebly arpeggios. Not only that, the notes being played are very reminiscent of Ash Bowie's style of guitar playing; bent and broken. It's evident that I'm playing favorites with the guitarist, but every member is an extremely talented musician. There is not one bad song on this album, not even one that'll spark neutrality. It's all mind-blowing, and for something to be consistently mind-blowing, it deserves very(x235) high marks.
yes.
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