Kevin Bronson on June 21st, 2013

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Grouplove’s happy-pill of of a debut album sold a tick over 150,000 tablets, a total that seems a little low considering the radio play afforded the L.A.-based quintet, which included a No. 1 song in “Tongue Tied.” Maybe people took the album title “Never Trust a Happy Song” literally? Or maybe the whole collectivist exuberance pop aesthetic (for lack of a better description) is just sagging from the weight of its own shout-along choruses. Anyway, the L.A.-based quintet of Christian Zucconi, Hannah Hooper, Sean Gadd, Andrew Wessen and Ryan Rabin return Sept. 17 with their sophomore album “Spreading Rumours.” (Not to plant a Fleetwood Mac seed in your head or anything.) The first single “Ways to Go” wants you to like it very badly, and Cameron Duddy’s video suggests that it could turn even members of the most authoritarian regime into dancin’ fools. Swizzle Sticks all around.

||| Previously: “Colours,”