Groom‘s 4th LP Bread And Jam will be released on August 9th on vinyl (with a download code) and CD There’s a BYOB launch gig lined up for August 9th in Popical Island’s Pop Inn on Little Britain Street where you can pick it up, or you can get it in the usual independent record shops, or you can order it online from http://groom.bandcamp.com.
Recorded over one weekend in London, Bread and Jam by Groom is a rock-and-roll record bursting with good times and observational humour. Now a finely-tuned band with a number of records under their belts, the foursome’s modus operandi this time was straightforward: keep it simple, keep all sounds to a 4-piece band (the only non-band contribution is Popical bedfellow Paddy Hanna’s sweet harmonica break on “Moving to Athlone”) and keep it to just good songs with no frills. Tracked live in the famous Soup Studios by Simon Trought and Giles Barrett (who have recorded Wave Pictures, Darren Hayman, Allo Darlin’ and many more), all songs were recorded live to 2-inch tape using some vintage amps and traditional mic-ing techniques. The result is a warm, organic-sounding record that allows the cheerful pop tunes, wry wit and home-grown riffs to breathe.
This is an album informed by and about Ireland. From the opening chug of “Rónan Agus Áine, Cá Bhfuil Tú?”—a charming ditty about clerical abuse—to the spiritual visions of “Colours”; from the broken-heart travel confessional of “Moving to Athlone” to the Dublin pub-crawl scene of “I’ve Never Been in a Real Fight”, the songs are alive with familiar people and places. (In fact, virtually every song is set in an Irish location.) The drunk funeral attendee in “The Old Songs” is representative: the feeling pervades that we have lost something significant, something profound, but what the heck, let’s go out singing.
