Grovesnor

All Music Guide:

Grovesnor is the alter ego and musical vehicle of one Rob Smoughton, formerly the drummer for Hot Chip and a member of the Naciente Quartet. His own work is overtly inspired -- typically to the point of pastiche -- by the much-maligned soft pop, yacht rock and blue-eyed soul of the 1980s, though a decidedly modern edge to Smoughton's sharp electro-pop production, combined with his heartfelt, sensitive crooning, place it not terribly far away from the more contemporary (and well-respected) likes of Junior Boys or, for instance, Hot Chip. After the limited-release CD-R Metrosexual, issued in 2005 through the London-based art collective Utrophia, of which Smoughton is a central member, Grovesnor first attracted wider attention when Hot Chip used his single "Nitemoves" to kick off their 2007 installment in the DJ-Kicks mix series. Hot Chip's Joe Goddard released "Drive Your Car" as a single on his own Greco-Roman imprint in 2008, and Grovesnor's official full-length debut, Soft Return, appeared on Lo Recordings in spring 2010.