Music / Grouplove

Grouplove is an indie rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 2009 after the five band members met at an artist residency in Crete and, despite their varying backgrounds, found themselves becoming close friends. A year later, the five met up at Ryan Rabin's recording studio to record their first EP and they've been together making music ever since.

The band's five members are:

• Christian Zucconi (vocals, guitar)
• Hannah Hooper (vocals, keyboard)
• Andrew Wessen (guitar, vocals)
• Ryan Rabin (drums)
• Sean Gadd (bass, vocals)

Discography:

• Grouplove EP (2010)
• Never Trust A Happy Song (2011)
• Spreading Rumours (2013)
• Big Mess (2016)
• Healer (2020)
• This Is This (2021)
• I Want It All Right Now (2023)

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Grouplove contains examples of:

• Animated Music Video: The video for "Borderlines and Aliens" is made entirely of animation based on artwork done by the band's own Hannah Hooper.
• Back to Front: The video for "Tongue Tied" shows the events of a wild party in reverse.
• Break-Up Song: "Didn't Have To Go"
• Careful with That Axe: "Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten" features Christian Zucconi singing "Don't swallow any seaweed, or if you do you're starting agaaaaiiaaaiiaaaiiAAAEEAEAAAAAAH!"
• Companion Cube: The "Itchin' On a Photograph" video shows three couples entering a hotel room: a pair of teenagers, a middle-aged couple, and... a man with a garden gnome.
• Cover Drop: The hippie with rainbow glasses on the Spreading Rumours album cover appears at the end of the "Borderlines and Aliens" music video.
• Driven to Suicide: From "Colours":
  Mistress mistress have you been up to the roof?
  He shot himself-self
  There's blood on the wall
  Cause he couldn't face the truth
• Epic Instrumental Opener: "I'm With You" has an intro lasting for two minutes, starting off with a piano solo then fading into more electronic music.
• Genre Mashup: Their music style is a mix of Alternative Rock and indietronica/Alternative Dance.
• Love Nostalgia Song: "Schoolboy" is about the speaker remembering a girl he loved when he was young and wishing he could tell her how much she meant to him.
  She was just a schoolgirl, she thought she'd met a dream
  Or so it seemed, so it seemed
  I spent some summer nights wrapped up in her backyard
  Oh, I was so in love and then I fell apart.
• Lyric Swap: The first verse in "Shark Attack" is repeated during the bridge, but with some lyrics swapped. The original goes "I left my body in a sea of people / And that's just how I leave it / I met somebody in a sea of people / And that's just what I believe in". The second time around, the "left my body" and "met somebody" are switched.
• Melismatic Vocals: Happens a lot on some of the longer notes. Especially in the chorus of "Save the Party": "Daddy came down this evening, he came dowowowowowown..."
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: The young boy in the "Ways to Go" video is pretty clearly meant to be a young Kim Jong-un.
• Non-Appearing Title: "Shark Attack" is their only example of this so far.
• Ode to Intoxication: "Everyone's Gonna Get High". The song also has some elements of a "Deconstructed Ode to Intoxication" Ode to Sobriety, since it discusses using drugs as a way to get through hard times instead of just for fun.
• One-Woman Song: "Chloe"
• Out-of-Genre Experience: "Hippy Hill" starts out with acoustic guitar and synth, but abruptly turns into dubstep about halfway through before going back to its former style.
• Step Up to the Microphone: Andrew Wessen steps up to the mic in "Spun", and Sean Gadd does this for "Getaway Car" and "Chloe".
• Title Drop: "Gold Coast", "Naked Kids", "Betty's a Bombshell", and "Hippy Hill" each have only one title drop.
• Title-Only Chorus: The chorus of "Didn't Have to Go" repeats the line "you didn't have to go".
  • "I'm With You" also does this, unless you count "ah" and "oh" as words.
  Ah ah ah ah, oh oh oh oh, I'm with you, you
  Ah ah ah ah, oh oh oh oh, I'm with you, you
• Word Salad Lyrics: "Beans on Pizza", without a doubt.
  Why you putting beans on my pizza?
  Why you putting beans on my pizza, yeah
  Why you spray tan inside the watermelon?
  Why you spray tan inside the watermelon, yeah
  We were there, you were there, we were everywhere, whoo oooo
  You were there, we were there, you were everywhere, whoo oooo
  • Though the lyrics do mention an acid trip, so perhaps that explains things...
• Whole-Plot Reference: The music video for "Colours" is based on Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".

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