[rating=3.50]
The Brooklyn three piece Grooms sophomore release, Prom, is an entanglement of twists, off kilter timings and hot pop injections. It is engrossing and a musical path worth traveling that at times can be energetic or turn frustrating on a dime.
The title track perfectly captures the experience of being 17 and dressing up for the annual right of spring. Things start off catchy and wholesome before a cacophony of noise late in the proceedings…much like the actual event itself. The trio toy with audio textures and can rope in the ear with notes that sound misplaced only to reemerge gloriously, yet some vocals and lyrics manage to simply be off-putting. “Into The Arms” begins with a steam engine inspired intro only for Travis Johnson to jarringly sing somewhere between a whine and gasp the ghastly lyric “Your Face/Getting Fucked/Cream Puffed/Shut Up”. Just when the tune rights the ship musically, the ending repetitive refrain of “I don’t know” manages to sink things.
The more successful tracks here use the vocals as background or another instrument while burying the lyric like on “Aisha” which places dueling guitars in the foreground mixing dirty strums with clean cool riffs above raging drums. The pop punk rolling and Emily Ambruso’s little girl vocals on “Sharing” are a sweet divergent while “Expression Of” drips lazily to start before an aggressive climax. “Imaging The Bodies” is a highlight with its pumping electro-style motoring over a sea of dissonance; getting the head bobbing and the mind wondering while lunging through energetic sections before slamming to a finish.
Grooms are still young and working through the band process but Prom worms around digs in and gains root, there is a lot to sift through here and a lot to admire.
