• Record Label: Vagrant
  • Release Date: Mar 6, 2001
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 12
  2. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. A classic party record from start to finish.
  2. Magnet
    90
    Let's face it: Group Sounds is shit. But it's pure shit, which makes all the difference.... Everything is overdiven and mixed to within a decibel of ear-shattering heaviosity. It isn't just monstrous, it's gleefully, unapologetically monstrous. [#49, p.88]
  3. Yet for all its adrenaline-rush thrills, the RFTC sound is also surprisingly complex. Like Phil Spector's '60s pop masterpieces for The Ronettes and Righteous Brothers, the sonic density of Group Sounds is actually composed of virtuoso performances and subtle nuances...
  4. Group Sounds is nonstop, straight-ahead rock for the most part, more reminiscent of Scream, Dracula, Scream!, but with enough flourishes to keep things from sounding too monochromatic.... Right through to the end, every song on Group Sounds is solid, pure, high-octane Rocket fuel.
  5. Mojo
    80
    If rock'n'roll is supposed to be dying, then these are exactly the guys we want manning the emergency room. [Aug 2001, p.98]
  6. Ten years since Rocket's first full-length, the sextet still sounds like they're on a live wire with an endless power source, as inspiring here as ever before.
  7. The variety of classic Rocket elements are evident, even more finely honed: bits of soul revue energy (Spector-esque backing vocals, tambourines and tight horn arrangements), songwriterly anthemic release, nods to classic punk auteurs, sexy South-of-the-Border flirtations with danger wrapped in a dynamic, snaky musical package and other frenetic new gems.
  8. Alternative Press
    80
    An admixture of Stax soul, raw-boned punk rock, and California beach-pop that sounds more focused than their previous outing, 1998's R.F.T.C. [#154, p.84]
  9. Q Magazine
    60
    Group Sounds is as good as anything they've put their name to previously. [#180, p.110]
  10. Group Sounds may not be astonishingly great, but it mostly rocks with the raw, excellent sound RFTC has come to own.
  11. Entertainment Weekly
    58
    After 10 years, RFTC have perfected their mix of muscular guitar riffs and bristling horns; it's the songwriting that's hit a dead end. [3/9/2001, p.82]
  12. Yes, it has a certain something that makes you bob your head and/or shake your ass to songs that you'd probably be ticked off by if someone drove past your pad blasting them out his windows. But no, it's not the stuff that great CDs are made of.

Awards & Rankings

User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. BenJ
    Aug 17, 2004
    10
    I fail to find a RFTC album which isnt amazing, this one is no exception. Its quality stuff, with 3/4 of the album pure rftc style punk and 2 I fail to find a RFTC album which isnt amazing, this one is no exception. Its quality stuff, with 3/4 of the album pure rftc style punk and 2 songs "SOS" and "Ghost shark" which are peaceful, sad and really shows the other side of RFTC. Full Review »
  2. JackG
    Apr 1, 2001
    10
    One of the best Punk/R&R albums of all time!