This made for some weird Friday morning commute music and I look forward to playing it next time I can't sleep.
Just because I don't see her name on this thread and in case anyone needs to hear it, Junior Boys' own Jeremy Greenspan has worked on all 3 of Jessy Lanza's albums and they are beautiful. In googling his involvement just now (writing/producing/mixing) I found that they broke up after the second album and "established a new working relationship" for the third. Oddly the back cover of that one says "by Jessy Lanza and Jeremy Greenspan".
― maf you one two (maffew12), Sunday, 30 October 2022 00:42 (one year ago) link
let's have an embed. the single's video is the Toronto subway in 1986. a beaut. now i'm proper sleepy gnite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aic8dgxZls
― maf you one two (maffew12), Sunday, 30 October 2022 01:33 (one year ago) link
whatever happened to Johnny dark anyway? That Stereo Image or whatever album sucked. Miss his fucked up El-b by way of timberland beatz
― lets hear some blues on those synths (brimstead), Sunday, 30 October 2022 02:10 (one year ago) link
Lmao NA
― frogbs, Sunday, 30 October 2022 02:22 (one year ago) link
my favorite Junior Boys bit is the ending of "FM" where the drums get stripped away and it's just this little synth/vocal thing. so I'm really liking this so far
― frogbs, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 01:49 (one year ago) link
digging the new one a lot. i've been going back through the catalog and "begone dull care" feels slept on to me.
speaking of endings, I never appreciated how glorious the last 2 minutes of "Like a Child" were.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 01:57 (one year ago) link
before we’ve completely moved past it:lol NA
― mh, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 02:01 (one year ago) link
this is kinda like if Air really leaned into their Kraftwerk influences. or something. man that bit midway through the title track hits so hard given how quiet everything is. really nice and yeah it might be their best album but it feels weird to say that since it almost feels like this is a JB side project (but like, in a Dukes of Stratosfear type way)
― frogbs, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 02:18 (one year ago) link
― Western® with Bacon Flavor
Yeah, I went back to this one last week and enjoyed it a lot. It's not in the same league as the first two which are basically perfect, but it's a beautiful album.
― kitchen person, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 03:01 (one year ago) link
Begone Dull Care is the least-good album and is still great. What a band.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 2 November 2022 04:42 (one year ago) link
i listened to begone dull care on repeat during a particularly vulnerable month of life so every song on on it is like a great cosmic unfolding to me
the least good junior boys album is so this is goodbye, controversial but true
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 November 2022 21:17 (one year ago) link
I have a friend who played the title track repeatedly in the car in 2006, to my dismay.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 November 2022 21:26 (one year ago) link
i'm aware this is kinda kneejerk but tbh this is beautifully produced and all, impressive synth work, but i just. cannot. get past the thin, reedy singing. nails on chalkboard for me. also kinda self serious. jessy lanza has a similar sound but is fun. not for me but i get the appeal.
― ꙮ (map), Thursday, 3 November 2022 21:32 (one year ago) link
similar sound partially due to Jeremy Greenspan being co-producer!
― mh, Thursday, 3 November 2022 22:32 (one year ago) link
― flamenco drop (BradNelson)
Woah, that's my favourite. The Equalizer, First Time and especially FM are some of their most beautiful melodies. It's the album that made me fall for them after struggling with Last Exit.
Big Black Coat is their only album that doesn't feel essential. Apart from the title track, the second half is kind of bland. Songs like Baby Don't Hurt Me and Love Is A Fire sound weirdly unfinished.
― kitchen person, Friday, 4 November 2022 01:07 (one year ago) link
IMO, It's All True = Last Exit > So This Is Goodbye > Waiting Game (though too early to tell) = Big Black Coat > Begone Dull Care
― Tim F, Friday, 4 November 2022 01:38 (one year ago) link
After listening to this a few dozen times I'm pretty sure it's my personal favorite in the catalog (even if it's not "the best").
It really does work best as a focused listen with no distractions or other stimulation (although something to fuck with your perception before hand doesn't hurt!). Extremely meditative, ruminative and calming.
I think it was Matt DC who once said something around the time of So This is Goodbye that always stuck with me. Paraphrasing here but it was about how you could follow each element as an ever-modulating thread and how no single note was the same. This has that on a whole new level with the 'peripheral', barely perceptible sounds your ears have to "reach" for. The result for me is after so many listens I still find myself able to hone in something I feel like I've never noticed before on every song. Spellbinding stuff!
― anza808, Saturday, 12 November 2022 23:45 (one year ago) link
Great post. I'm impatiently awaiting delivery of the LP release, which has predictably been pushed back a few weeks I guess. Saying I love this one as much as Last Exit feels like a kind of blasphemy, and I'm not ready to go there quite yet, but it's definitely close.
― Paul Ponzi, Sunday, 13 November 2022 01:23 (one year ago) link
Just took a cold, cloudy morning walk with this, very nice.I'll pick it up on CD if I see it. An imperfect vinyl pressing of such a quiet record would be annoying.
― maf you one two (maffew12), Sunday, 13 November 2022 14:21 (one year ago) link
listening to Last Exit for the first time in like a decade, god damn this sounds like it was made TODAY
― frogbs, Wednesday, 8 March 2023 03:14 (one year ago) link
absolutely
― hootenanny-soundtracking clusterfucks about milking cows (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 8 March 2023 04:09 (one year ago) link
Happy Birthday!
The first Junior Boys album “Last Exit” is celebrating its 20th birthday today!! I’m so thankful to have had a life in music since then, and am genuinely touched by those of you who still enjoy it all these years later.🖖 pic.twitter.com/LfU2X9Fsws— Junior Boys (@Juniorboys) June 7, 2024
― groovypanda, Friday, 7 June 2024 15:03 (one week ago) link
Man, flashbacks.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 7 June 2024 15:13 (one week ago) link