Having been inside this Chicago record store at 1047 W Belmont Avenue in Chicago, it’s possible to write up a decent review of a place even when you go out of your way to give the shop a proper once-over only to be confronted with this:

Frustrating, to say the least. But what can you do? Since I’ve already been inside, I can relate that this shop features a good mix of the vintage stuff with new releases. There’s the requisite (and ever-shrinking, it seems from shop to shop) island of CDs, but vinyl is the name of the game here.

My experience at the shop was OK–a friendly presence behind the counter, a lot of records to peer over–especially in the modern rock department. The frustrating thing for me was the massive pile of albums and other items positioned directly in front of the Soundtracks section for MONTHS ON END.

I visited the shop several times hoping this towering monolith of stuff would be gone so I could have a proper browse, but no luck. The detritus has been there for what seems like half a year now. I finally gave in and made a pretzel out of my spine so I could have a look.

Those into music books–not tablature but biographies and such–will do well to give Groovin High a look as there are a  lot of titles positioned in easy reach (thank you) and plenty to browse. In fact, I’d say my liking of this shop is a 50/50 split between the modern rock selection and the books. If only the hours were a bit more dependable! My advice–check this store out, but phone first for best results.