Music Review: Grooms' 'Infinity Caller' -- 3 stars

‘Infinity Caller’
Grooms
3 stars
In any pursuit, you simply can’t avoid the classics. For an author, infidelity; for a painter, blue. For an East Coast rock band, it’s guitar. What more can you do with six electrified strings? If you're Travis Johnson, quite a bit. In addition to fronting Brooklyn trio Grooms, Johnson makes a living crafting effects pedals at Death by Audio, the Williamsburg-based company/music venue, and his faith in technology pays dividends on the band’s diverse third album. Alongside the rich contributions of bassist Emily Ambruso and drummer Kevin Lynch, Johnson's guitar lines are rooted in the classic indie axis of distance and distortion, but have the capacity to multiply and take flight at any time, erupting in stratospheric squalls that are loud yet distinct. From “Completely,” which sounds like something Keith Richards would have cooked up if he had grown up in a late-’80s American suburb, to “Play,” which mixes Stereolab’s perfect space pop with lunging garage rock energy, “Infinity Caller” shows that there is a future in the formula.