Grooms - Prom

(Kanine, 2011)

Grooms' debut, Rejoicer, was my favorite album of 2009.  I have a fondness for and often slip back into the gritty guitars and general dissonance of 90's indie rock and Rejoicer struck so hard on that aesthetic, those hooks and the general feeling of rawness that I was immediately smitten.  It's a difficult thing, becoming so brazenly attached to an album, and then not feel some sense of disappointment when the follow-up isn't quite as awesome.  That's how I felt about this year's Gang Gang Dance album, Eye Contact, the follow-up to another year-end favorite: Saint Dymphna.  However, this is not how I feel about Prom.  Released in the summertime months, I have been digesting this album for a little bit and I have come to the conclusion that Prom demands a gestation period.  Rocking a little less urgently, a bit more casually, with the same sense of 90's-era shabbiness but not quite as loudly as on Rejoicer, Prom is calmed and, for lack of a better word, mature; but mature, as Dismemberment Plan taught me (among so many other things), is not so bad a word, and Prom is an absolute stunner.  I am smitten again and surprised, really, to not be at all disappointed.  Such an amazing album.  Don't sleep on Grooms. Prom is amazing.

39.

Grooms
Rejoicer
(Death By Audio, 2009)

The most recent release of any album on this list, Grooms' Rejoicer is an instant classic with all the touchstones of an album that can be played a million times without losing an iota of its initial power. I know, I've played it a million times.

-Thistle

Thistle's best favourites of 2009

‘Sup my twine suckas? In light of some hefty essays and finals that I will be (and am) engulfed in for the next couple weeks, I think it is safe to say that I won’t be seeking out any new music in 2009 before it comes to a close. Fortunately, I have already listened to pretty much everything that has been released this year (except for most of it) so I think I am pretty well ready to get this over with. Also, no blurbs. Everything on here (with the exception of one album) has been reviewed on Forest Gospel this year, so if you’re curious just look them up. Plus, I’ve already done enough blurbing for my end-of-decade list (which is also on the horizon). So here they are, my best favourite albums of 2009:

50) Clark - Totems Flare
49) Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
48) Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
47) Why? - Eskimo Snow
46) James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game
45) Black Dice - Repo
44) Anduin - Abandoned in Sleep
43) Mark Templeton + aA. Munson - Acre Loss
42) Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
41) Mountains - Choral

40) Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic
39) Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix / (Another) Stunt Ep
38) Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
37) Blackout Beach - Skin of Evil
36) The Antlers - Hospice
35) Zs - Music For the Modern White
34) Smith Westerns - Smith Westerns
33) Julianna Barwick - Florine
32) Sparklehorse + Fennesz - In the Fishtank 15
31) Millipede - Death Mountain / Sand & Surf 7"

30) Braden J. McKenna - Gigantic Monster Cave
29) Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
28) Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
27) Ekkehard Ehlers + Paul Wirkus - Ballads
26) Bad Hangin' Out - Bad Hangin' Out
25) Atlas Sound - Logos
24) Animal Hospital - Memory
23) Grizzly Bear - Veckematist
22) Burial + Four Tet - Moth/Wolf Cub 12"
21) Swan Lake - Enemy Mine

20) A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar

























19) Leyland Kirby - Sadly, the Future is No Longer What It Was
























18) The Hunches - Exit Dreams
























17) John Wiese - Circle Snare

























16) Fever Ray - Fever Ray
























15) Axolotl - Of Bonds In General

























14) Prefuse 73 - Meditation Upon Meditations


























13) Caboladies - Crowded Out Memory / Constellation Deformity cs
























12) Ben Frost - By The Throat



























11) Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights

























10) Sam Hamilton - Sooty Symposium
























9) DM Stith - Heavy Ghost






















8) OOIOO - Armonico Hewa

























7) Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

























6) Animal Collective - Merriweather PostPavilion

























5) A Faulty Chromosome - Craving To Be Coddled So We Can Feel Fake-Safe



















4) Evangelista - Prince of Truth


























3) Andrew Douglas Rothbard - Exodusarabesque
























2) Dragging An Ox Through Water - The Tropics of Phenomenon





















1) Grooms - Rejoicer

Grooms - Rejoicer

Grooms
Rejoicer
(2009, Death By Audio)
RIYL = Pavement, Sonic Youth, Blood On the Wall

With list making season right around the corner for both the year and the decade (for those with the patience to actually wait until the decade ends), Rejoicer is the catalyst for displacement. To say that with this, the Grooms debut, that I’ve saved the best for last would be understatement. But wait, is this a debut? For the ‘Grooms’ moniker, yes; however, with a different drummer the band was formerly called the Muggabears. The decision to change the name was an obvious one. In fact, it is kind of unfortunate that it didn’t happen earlier because now I am going to have to backtrack in order to listen to the three albums that proceeded Rejoicer, but that is neither here nor there. No, what we are here to discuss is Rejoicer and Rejoicer, my friends, is set to unhinge jaws and leave them hanging like some many clouds. The album is simple. Seriously, how many bands could I review with stylistic comparisons to Pavement or Sonic Youth? A million. The beauty of the comparison in this particular situation is that Rejoicer not only contains the straight forward, albeit roughly hued indie rock touchstones of the godfathers of the genre, but also maintains the quality of the same. This is no lie. We all love Slanted and Enchanted and Daydream Nation, right? Well, if you love those albums then you’ll also love Rejoicer. It’s that simple. Ten songs, melodically skiwampus, with both gorgeous and corrosive qualities, that drive chords of joy and fervor straight into your heart. What we have here with the Grooms’ "debut" is an earnest mess of perfectly imperfect guitar tones that often dive off the map, excellent drumming that is focused on rhythmic utility rather than flashy fills, emotive bass undercurrents and everyman vocals that veer and cut endearingly. Rejoicer is it folks, that’s all.

-Thistle