The Group Sound

The ebb and flow of washy guitars echoing across the Pacific form the most beautiful sunset of sweet lyrics on Secret Girlfriend. Dance on the horizon and cast the longest shining reflection that reaches your toes as you dip into the Group Sound. Love letters written in sand dunes on the warmest night in July remind you why you loved pop when you were young and thirsty. These road songs for a trip rise to the top of Mt. Fuji and scream “baby please don’t go!” as you skydive down to earth and land in a banana split. - Weird Canada

The Group Sound formed in early 2010 following the not-really-break-up of Brazillian Money. The band, fronted by drummer-come-vocalist, (how was this guy ever not the vocalist), Matt Israelson, has a sound that mingles a strong Surf and Garage influence with elements of experimentation that make reviewers add 'Post' before whatever genre they're compared to. The band's take on the golden era 1950s/1960s Rock n' Roll provides an interesting backdrop to Matt Israelson's lyrics which rest a block away from the Brill Building behind Spector's Wall of Sound. Influenced by sunset memories of Rocky Mountain Summers past and, perhaps, by contemporaries of the 2000s explosion of talent around the city of Edmonton (see Sean Nicholas Savage, label mates Makeout Videotape, the Wicked Awesomes, Sans AIDS, Gobble Gobble etc.), Israelson dishes on themes of heartbreak and cool, populating his songs with feet stomping/hand clapping rhythms.

This year, the band released their debut album 'Secret Girlfriend' (Totally Disconnected), this is a record that refuses to be anything but a smash hit. The eclecticism here is inviting and sandwiched between massive waves of catchy guitars and rhythms, this album has been garnering critical acclaim for its surface beauty and dive-in depth. Pam Haasen of Weird Canada writes:

"The ebb and flow of washy guitars echoing across the Pacific form the most beautiful sunset of sweet lyrics on Secret Girlfriend. Dance on the horizon and cast the longest shining reflection that reaches your toes as you dip into the Group Sound. Love letters written in sand dunes on the warmest night in July remind you why you loved pop when you were young and thirsty. These road songs for a trip rise to the top of Mt. Fuji and scream “baby please don’t go!” as you skydive down to earth and land in a banana split."


The band is currently touring far and wide across the nation and thankfully lands down in London on Sunday August 14th. They began in Vancouver making their way back to Edmonton and into the Praries and Toronto and then London on the 14th. Somewhere in Halifax Nova Scotia will see the conclusion of this tour, and touring a record this great very likely some big press attention.

Until the purveyors of major label mediocrity find their way to the Group Sound the small press will generate the word of mouth of the wonderful throwback music of this rising band from Edmonton. Here's Canadian blog Argue Job's take on lead single, 'Secret Goilfriend':

"I’ve got a sweet 2 minute heater for you all. Matthew Israelson of Brazilian Money has put down the sticks and picked up the axe, doing that signature jangle pop thang his own way. He’s calling it The Group Sound. Cool. On Secret Goilfriend, the surfy guitar vibes and the sixties aesthetic come together with some light as water lyrics that are waterfight-fun. Dig that. Then dig Darling, a gorgeous thunderbird cruiser to make out point. The vibrations are all there and I’m especially digging the soul on those harmonies. Just lovely." [link]

The Group Sound's music can be compared to that of The Ventures, The Beach Boys, Tommy James and the Shondells, Women, Magnetic Fields, Link Wray, Jonathan Richman/Modern Lovers, and Beat Happening. - London Fuse

The Group Sound's Matt Israelson is on the phone at Toronto's Reactive Ink while he gets a tattoo of Dante Basco's character Rufio from the movie Hook. He explains that he plans on sending a photo of the tattoo to be autographed and returned by Basco.

Amidst the sounds of a buzzing needle and the occasional murmurs of discomfort and fits of laughter from his bandmates, Israelson explains the origins of his Edmonton-based quartet. He refers to "group sounds," a genre of Japanese rock that spawned seemingly overnight after a Beatles show at Tokyo's Budokan Hall in June of 1966.

"That was totally a mashing of cultures," says Israelson. "It was really derivative of a specific sound that came from England, but then it exploded and became a thing in its own right. I guess that's what we're doing. But we're modern kids and it's going to come out a little differently."

This self-awareness is ultimately what makes The Group Sound such a successful band. While so many young bands try their best to emulate the Nuggets era with overwrought concision, The Group Sound uses its references (including doo-wop, cowpunk, mod, eleki) more as footnotes than as theses.

"It's impossible to mirror a genre that happened 50 years ago. You have to be honest to who you are and you have to write songs that are reflective of you as a person to have any sort of credibility," says Israelson.

The band planned its tour across the country after guitarist Mark Goetz decided to move to Montreal. "It works out well," says Israelson, "because we got into Pop Montreal, so I'm going to hang out there for a while. We're kind of touring and moving, all at the same time."

The Group Sound's members are no strangers to the national tour circuit (they've toured Canada with Brazilian Money, Bronze Leaf and Outdoor Miners). Israelson notes the importance of travelling as an independent band: "It's essential. You meet more and more great people along the way. It's a real give-and-take community. They help you out, you help them out." - The Coast (Halifax)

none - Kensie

I’ve got a sweet 2 minute heater for you all. Matthew Israelson of Brazilian Money has put down the sticks and picked up the axe, doing that signature jangle pop thang his own way. He’s calling it The Group Sound. Cool. On Secret Goilfriend, the surfy guitar vibes and the sixties aesthetic come together with some light as water lyrics that are waterfight-fun. Dig that. Then dig Darling, a gorgeous thunderbird cruiser to make out point. The vibrations are all there and I’m especially digging the soul on those harmonies. Just lovely. Looking forward to the full length. - ARGUE JOB (blog)