Somerville Grooves

This is a great shop. The owner is a very nice guy. The collection is small, but really good. The prices are reasonable, which is more than I can say for some other places in the area. I wish it was bigger, but alas. Go check it out, you’ll find some great stuff.

Nice little store — went in today for the first time. I buy mostly classical and Grooves had a small but very fairly priced selection. From what I could see of other genres like Rock, there were good records priced sensibly. I will definitely go back. Hopefully the owner will expand at some point because this is how a record store should be.

My favorite place to buy records. I never even bother checking the condition of the record itself as I know the owner keeps good tabs /​leaves notes on the sticker if there’s anything wrong with it.

This isn’t a big store, but that’s what makes it so cool. They have to make efficient use of their space, so the store isn’t filled with multiple copies of vinyls no one wants to buy. The stuff you’ll find here is all in good condition and the prices are reasonable for some of the rarer stuff they have in the store. I’d definitely recommend checking it out of you’re in the Somerville area!

Great shop, I’ve been a regular here for about a year. Owner is super nice!

This small shop in Union Square always has an eclectic mix of lp’s. I have purchased everything from Django Reinhardt to Steve Earle here, everything is in good shape and the price is right. I like that this store carries new releases as well as nice used lp’s. I can always find something new and interesting at Somerville Grooves, I highly recommend it. They have a nice Facebook page as well where they post the new arrivals.

Picked over shop with the few decent records being massively overpriced. Unpleasant owner/​employee. A waste of time.

From the viewpoint of a classic rock listener, this and Planet Records in Harvard Square are my favorite record stores in the Cambridge/​Somerville area. This place is generally cheaper than the other record stores in the area. It’s medium-​sized, neatly organized, clean, and its selection doesn’t involve flipping through a handful of bad records to get to a good one. The dude working there (I assume the owner) was super helpful/​aware of what was in stock. I was really excited to finally find Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here (1975) in person because I usually encounter a dearth of Pink Floyd standards in local record stores since they’re so sought after.
Also, there is metered parking.

I have been in this place several times. The owner (I assume he is) is always nice (you know for a vinyl type junkie). They always have what I am looking for and the prices are good and the records are in pretty good condition.
I haven’t tried to sell him anything yet so I don’t know about that side of the business but as far buying goes I am hooked.
The downside to this place? umm. maybe it could be bigger? I don’t know, if I had to describe the record store I would have loved to see open in Somerville before Grooves opened I think I would have given the above description.
I notice one of the things they ask below this box is about parking, there really isn’t even street parking here. So, I guess you gotta take the T or walk or bike.

This place is killer. With the advent of iTunes and digital music, so much of the fun of actually holding and owning your media has been lost. Not here, where you can flip through bins of well organized and curated new and used vinyl and there is always something to discover. Their used section has tons of great bargains on rock, jazz, world music and blues, plus a great section for new vinyl. I love the fact that they are 5 minutes from where I live also! Long live vinyl!!!

Finally made it by to check this place out, wish it was more in my hood so I could go more often!
I dropped by to to try and pickup a copy of Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain that I had seen in the Background of a Facebook post… and I totally scored a copy for under $ 20.00 super reasonable.
I like the layout of the store, and thought that it it did well with its space, and did not succumb to clutter like so many record stores.
Why 5 stars not 4 based off of one visit/​purchase? THEY HAVE A LISTENING TURNTABLE! I sell allot of records, and I buy allot at retail price too when I find something that I want. The other long standing record stores in Boston do not have listening tables which is seriously annoying (and costs them sales!). This place is a legit record store and from the looks of it is doing well, and will expand.

I was biking in the neighborhood home one afternoon and came across Somerville Grooves. I had always said, «I am going to stop in there one day.» and I did. I am happy I did. I missed the experience of stopping in a record store; conversing with people, holding the vinyl, selecting the cover and reading the liner notes.
SG has great selection, good prices and best of all you have the opportunity to listen to the vinyl. Recommended.

Reveals Newbs for the poser douche it is. If this place was bigger I’d give it 6 stars. I got Talking Book, Today!, Plastic Ono Band, and 4 Bach/​Mozart collections all for $ 30. That’s anywhere from 1 to 2 records at NC. Ultra cheap everything, nicest owner, Good Vibrations. I would gladly get rid of Red House if it meant Grooves would get all their space.

OK, I’m sold, he definitely gets 5 stars +
This place is hands down fantastic. The guy who runs it is a riot and really nice. I’ve seen him help out, and he really appreciates the business he gets, whether someone is buying a 7″ or a stack of LP’s. They definitely get 5 stars now.
I’m impressed with how quickly he rotates stock, the newly traded box is always full of new things, and last time I was there I scored a Madness record for 12 bucks that included the fan-​mail comic book with it.
My other favorite thing about this place is that it’s well organized, and while I do dig digging through piles of records at In your Ear, I really like the crips inventory here.
Seriously, if you like your records, check this place out. If the inventory and environment don’t impress you, the customer service will.

This is a small space but they have a great selection with awesome prices. Most records were under five dollars. And despite the small space, no one’s breathing down your neck while you’re in there.
Friendly guy behind the counter too.
I’ll definitely go back.

Like all record stores in any city, I thought Grooves was going to rob me blind because that Ike & Tina album is an original print, but they didn’t.
Like all record stores, when my partner and I came home and found one record to skip I thought Grooves wasn’t going to take it back because they have a listening station, but they did.
The prices are a total steal and the owner happily gave us credit for something we had purchased previously. The selections are pretty good considering the size of the store, location, and prices.
It’s hard writing such a good review for this place because… you know…

The only reason I give this place 4 stars is because of it’s size. 5 stars is «as good as it gets,» and in terms of record stores, there are others that are larger and have a more expansive selection.
However, for it’s size, it’s a great store. I went there for the first time with the purpose of finding some records for a party I was hosting. Grooves seems to favor rock or alternative music. It seemed to me, of all the genres, the rock /​alternative genre was best represented there. They had the artists you might hope to find. They also had some jazz, reggae, vocalist, and minimal hip hop /​rap.
Since I was shopping for familiar bands, I was able to find a bunch of stuff that worked for me. I don’t know how great they are for people looking for those rare finds (probably partially due to the size of store). They did have a bunch of boxes underneath the main displays which I didn’t take the time to go through, so maybe there’s more there.
To summarize, If you’re local, I’d definitely say check it out. It was clean, well organized, he guarantees play on all the stuff, prices seemed reasonable, and it was entirely all vinyl for sale. I’m looking forward to going back.

There aren’t many places where one could open a new vinyl shop and make a go of it — but Union Square is one of those places, and newcomer Somerville Grooves is a more than adequate replacement of bygone stores like the Cambridge Looney Tunes, Record Hog, Mars and Phase Four.
Reversing the longtime trend of record stores shutting down, Somerville Grooves appeared triumphantly and defiantly late last summer in Union Square, sadly just as I was leaving the area. On visits back to my old hood I’ve had a few chances to shop here and every time I’ve found something that impressed me.
The store is rather small — a record store probably has to be these days to avoid paying absurd rents while doing business $ 5 and $ 10 at a time. You may not find that *one* record you’ve been scouring the city for, but there’s a very good chance you’ll find something worth buying, particularly when the store’s reasonable prices are factored in. Unlike many small, independent shops in the area, Somerville Grooves does carry sealed new releases and reissues — you’ll pay a bit of a premium, but many come with a download coupon. The rock section is decent and despite their small size, the hip hop and disco sections yield some good finds. If you like 80’s pop, there’s a pile of $ 1 45’s in the corner — and a copy of «Against All Odds» waiting just for you.

This place is cool. The inventory is quality over quantity. You do not have to flip past hundreds of bad albums to find the good ones. They are all good.

Yup, I’m down. Good selection of vinyl to be found in Union Square, including a copy of Remain in Light for all of $ 6. Decent chunk of freebies, too (I like Elton John, what can I say?) The owner’s nice and I can bring my dog, no problem. The wall behind the cash register is bright pink.
No credit card minimum, which surprised me, but rules. It’s also been nicely climate-​controlled every time I’ve been in there.
I’m all about supporting this local business as I expand my record collection!