Subsonic Temple

“Musical excellence - a sublime example of downtempo chilled vibes.”

Beats Digital

"San Franciscan ambient dub that howls with thick bass and deep sonic textures, gROUSe is the work of musician/producer Ronan Carroll. His songs are layered with atmospheric synths, samples, sparse drum beats, and a whirlwind of looped effects. Downtempo abstract creations, this self-titled album is a strong reminder of the powerful voice of dub music."

Smother.net

“An album you can safely reach for when looking to get into a chill headspace.”

Lucidforge.com

"A surprisingly diverse album ranging from loungey downtempo to spacey drum n' bass. Also, a lot of live instrumentation that fills out the Grouse sound nicely. The album only gets better with each songs showing more range, while staying focused. All well-produced and cohesive throughout the entire album."

Erasoul.com

"Brilliant. One of the best CD's I've received in 2006"

Sea - DJ at UMFM Australia

"Sultry melodies are crafted with sinuous electronics and sneakily complex percussion. Smooth keyboards are employed to give certain passages an endearing quality, while guitar and other instruments flesh out the sound with delicate affluence. The guitar's serene growl adds a remarkable undercurrent, while at other points an acoustic strumming sends pulsating stars flittering through a lover's eyes.
A dreamy quality is dominant here, stepping down the frenetic velocity and producing a pleasantly mesmerizing flavor. Sedate keyboards wander through some tunes, injecting a softly romantic edge. Rumbling basslines ooze with similar effect, generating a melancholic lilt.
Percussion is applied in nimble and relaxed modes. Both applications flourish with intricate rhythms, drawing in the listener with their inviting tempos. The presence of alternate beat tracks lends a lush complexity to the music.
Vocals make periodic appearances throughout this CD, rarely intruding on the overall ethereal quality maintained by the music.
Not to belabor the point, but this release is rewardingly dreamy. Possessing more substance than ambience, but displaying a higher pep quotient than most contemporary electronics, it lulls without sedation and quietly stimulates."

SonicCuriosity.com

"As you know we review and play music from all parts of the globe, so it is especially nice to come back to the bay area and hear some sweet dreamy downtempo from right in my own backyard. Grouse’s debut album, "We Need To Be Loved" offers plenty to love. Based out of San Francisco, musician and producer Ronan Carroll dishes out a slick blend of slightly dark ambient dub. While many of the tunes may evoke sadness and despair and I was captured by the fresh mix a dub laced ambient rhythms that flow effortlessly from track to track. I might go as far as saying if you need a good cry…well reach for a Sade CD or some of the tracks here. Still as if an answer to this the last track "As if to Prove a Point" ends this dubbed out journey on an up note. The production values through the CD are excellent and can possibly attest to Ronan's long involvement with music including his time with rock band Tempest."

Subsonic Temple (full review)

"We Want To Be Loved is an eclectic offering of sounds, pulling guitars and trumpets together with the best of today's technology. Instead of pasting together his beats in a danceable pattern, Grouse has taken more time to ensure that this album became the best.
The tracks, which vary from 28 seconds to over eight minutes in length, seem to weigh more on the side of trip hop. The music and rare vocals are always flowing into each other without the bass associated with the genre.
Speaking of the vocals, Grouse is actually only one man, Ronan Carroll, who is originally from Ireland. His work takes the background in a few of the tracks, such as "Lies On Me" when he allows a female vocalist to sing over his entrancing beat. Carroll, or should I say Grouse, must have searched the globe or at least the country hard to find a voice to suit his music. He has found the fit perfectly though. The women that accompany his music are soothing and haunting in their sound, helping Grouse to keep the mood of this album strong.
Underneath the soft sounds of this CD, there is a dark theme running through each song. Perhaps it's the twisting beats or the unsettling sound of crickets in "Freak Of Nurture" but you can feel there is a darkness within the album waiting to be released the next time you push play."

Indie-Music.com

"This one took me by surprise. It has been a long time since I heard anything remotably comparable to Portishead and Massive Attack that didn't fall flat on its' arse. gROUSe don't, however. I am not saying that gROUSe sounds all that much like either of those two bands, but there are elements of them both in gROUSe's music. On "We Want To Be Loved" you'll find both instrumental songs as well as songs with vocals. I think I like the ones with vocals a bit more, because they give you something extra to remember, but if you're into down-tempo and ambient electronica, drum & bass and trip hop you'll most definitely get into some of the instrumental stuff as well. In a couple of tracks there's even a jazzy-feel fueled with jazzy keys and trumpets... Nice one."

Past and Present Webzine

"A great CD to put your headphones on, put your feet up, close your eyes and float away. Each time I listen to it, I discover something I haven't heard before, another layer I missed. I like the guitar work, the trumpet, the vocals...all very smooth! My favorite track is Lies On Me, with several others running a close second. Order it now, and you'll be "gellin' like Magellan" in no time!"

CDBaby.com customer

"Amazing work! Intricately interwoven layers of music combining to produce a wonderfully rich narrative tapestry. There are shades of Gorillaz (particularly on Twisted), Kruder + Dorfmeister and Moby - but an original sound and a definite musical vision of his own. I wouldn't normally think of this genre as my kind of music, but this is a great, mellow, musical backdrop to whatever you're doing. It's in heavy rotation on my iPod and my laptop."

CDBaby.com customer