By: Kyle Grim

The indie pop band, Grouplove, recently released its second album, “Spreading Rumours.”

The band dominated the radio last summer with the hit single “Tongue Tied,” which received significant airplay.

The band’s second album, much like its first, contains an infectious batch of songs.

The songs of “Spreading Rumours” are upbeat, poppy and perfect for summertime driving. Sadly, since winter is coming, the true potential of the album will not be realized for a few months. However, that does not mean that the album is bad.

“Ways to Go” contains a percussive synthesizer beat, with minimal instrumentation during the verse.

It then bursts into a loud chorus, featuring Grouplove’s signature girl/boy vocal call and responses.

This album also illustrates Grouplove trying to develop its music in new directions.

“Borderlines and Aliens” features a riff centered on a distorted guitar, rather than the band’s usual synthesizers, while “Bitin’ the Bullet” has a hip-hop beat.

These new directions work, showing how the members of Grouplove have evolved as songwriters, while still maintaining the band’s pop sensibility.

The greatest example of this is on the album opener “I’m With You,” which opens with piano, and slowly morphs into synths with drums slowly building in the background.

While still relatively unknown, Grouplove is making an effort to break into the popular consciousness.

The band even jokes about itself in “Hippy Hill,” singing “I’d rather be a hippy than a hipster.” “Spreading Rumours” is a fine collection of pop songs.

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