Generally, if you invest in an album and it takes you to all sorts of different locales, that’s a good thing, right? But, then again, the scattershot bands are often too busy with pisstakes and random diversions, distracting from the quality of the overall product.
I’ve listened to Rejoicer, by Grooms, several times, and I still can’t put my finger on what it is they’re DOing. And for that I thank them, because by dint of their constantly shifting template the trio is never boring, a riddlebox of rhythms, atmospheres and melodies that recall Portugal. The Man, Bear Vs. Shark, Sonic Youth, Drive Like Jehu, Ex Lion Tamer and, well, possibly more.
I’d like to start, if I may, with a tour of their better songs:
- “Acid King of Hell (Guitar Feelings)” — Blessed with one of the best titles (except for that part about “feelings”; huh?) in recent memory, “Acid King” would be more aptly titled “Arpeggio King,” with fruitful, plentiful, Tristeza-esque guitar picking and, once things get hot and battered, a good measure of all manner of shredding. Guitar feelin’ indeed …
- “Ghost Cat” — Oh “Ghost Cat,” where have you been all my life? It’s as if a prog-rock feline were sucked up by a tornado like a golfball slurped up by a vacuum tube, followed by more of that gorgeous string-pickin’ and tom-tom-heavy drumming. Could this be the next big indie comic-book character?
- “She Bears” — Another triumphant title, another loooong journey … Where to start … ghostly chants, faded window panes, guitars cleaner than a Swedish virgin, digital cries from the deep, tambourines smacking you in the face. What more do you want?
So, now that we’ve looked at a couple of the blessed cuts, allow me to criticize just a lil’.
More focus would help. “Kier,” though it is slotted second-to-last, is a lazy, clunky song with no real reason to exist, unless you count recycling another Joy Division bass riff — much like The Fresh & Onlys, Little Girls and too many others have lately — as a charge to be honored by the noble (of course Grooms totally rip shit up at the end of “Kier” with squalling guitars and crybaby-wah-bending, rendering my analysis moot; thanks a LOT guys).
A section here and a section there also tend to Get a Goat or two, but by and by Rejoicer is granite-solid and both beautiful and brutal, sometimes simultaneously. It’s … as my buddy Dave would say, trying not to swear, “flippin’ good.”
