There's No 'I' in Cherem

There's No 'I' in Cherem is the debut album by American Jewish pop punk band The Groggers, released through CD Baby on August 29, 2011. Originating as a series of demos recorded by lead singer L.E. Doug Staiman in his bedroom, he formed the Groggers in early 2010 after the video for "Get" became a minor viral hit. The album was engineered by Aryeh Kunstler and features vocals from Bram Presser of the Australian Jewish punk band Yidcore.

Background
Originating as a series of demos recorded by lead singer L.E. Doug Staiman in his bedroom, he formed The Groggers in early 2010 after the video for "Get", originally made as a joke, became a minor viral hit. The album was engineered by Aryeh Kunstler (whose touring band Staiman had previously been a member of) and mixed by Jake Antelis, and features Bram Presser of the Australian Jewish punk band Yidcore on the track "Farbrengiton".

The album title is a combination of the expression "There's no 'I' in 'team'" and cherem, a Jewish communal practice of shunning those considered heretical. Speaking on the title's meaning, guitarist Ari Friedman said in 2012: "“The album title is just funny. And Doug [Staiman] had no idea why it was so deep and profound. It means you’re not alone. It’s not always about the individual, whether it’s a person or a whole sect. There’s a whole team to think about. There’s a lot of in-group-out-group sort of thing between Jews, and it’s terrible…It’s not your good deeds, it’s our good deeds. It’s not your bad deeds. It’s our bad deeds.”"

Reception
Binyomin Ginzberg of The Forward praised the album for its "good-natured yet sarcastic take on contemporary Judaism". Blogger Heshy Fried, writing for Heeb magazine, called it "pop-punk, feel-good music that makes you bob your head in the car and forget about the stop and go traffic on your morning commute."

Personnel

 * The Groggers
 * L.E. Doug Staiman – lead vocals, guitar, songwriting
 * Ari Friedman – lead guitar, vocals
 * C.J. Glass – bass guitar
 * Chemy Soibelman – drums


 * Other
 * Jake Antelis – mixing
 * Aryeh Kunstler – engineering
 * Bram Presser – guest vocals ("Farbrengiton")