Why is everyone not going totally bonkers about the junior boys?

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Man, I can just tell this album is going to sound more and more awesome on rainy days like today.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 8 October 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I think my secret fave on the album is "Under the Sun," in that it does the cold early eighties AOR thing right (as opposed to others these days who do it wrong).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Also the way the guitar on that track connects Hats to Hex is u+k.

― RickyT (RickyT), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha ha yes! Although I thought that link was already very strong (it's just a short jump from the end of "The Downtown Lights" to something like "Blood Rush", although also to U2 and Disco Inferno! People don't give The Blue Nile enough credit for the guitar playing on those first two albums)

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

God, I hate Under the Sun. It's the only track on the album that didn't make it to my iPod.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to second Tim here, that's an incredibly astute call. Cheers for RickyT! I think I'll relisten to the album now with that in mind.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

God, I hate Under the Sun.

I hate you. (A lie.)

This gives me a half chance to talk about what is actually my fave obscure track from Them Early 80s which fits into that vein, Paul Gardiner's "Stormtrooper in Drag." He was Gary Numan's bassist for a long time and Numan wrote and sang the lyrics (as one can guess from the title alone, really), and it's an extremely disconcerting, fascinating result.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

(Oh yeah Tim, did you get my mail? I tell you, sir, you are shaping a generation. :-) )

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Jaymc needs some Arthur Russell.

― Howard Wine (nordicskilla), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Probably!

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Checking my e-mail now Ned.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:12 (twenty-one years ago)

(I'd go further and say that not enough attention is paid to all the instrumentation of the first two BN albums, not just the guitar. You get a lot of talk about them sounding very eighties, and the glossiness of the production, but the underlying arrangements and playing are rarely written about. Which is curious, because they way they transcend their potential, um, schlockiness(?) seems to me as deeply bound up with that as with Paul Buchanan's voice.)

― RickyT (RickyT), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

(the way the Blue Nile transcend their potential schlockiness, I mean)

― RickyT (RickyT), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I know exactly what you're talking about. I once wrote a very detailed breakdown of the sounds at work in "Rags To Riches" but I'm not sure if it ended up being posted anywhere. Personally though the endings of "Tinseltown In The Rain", "The Downtown Lights" and "Saturday Nights" (though the latter in a different way slightly) are their most thrilling moments sonically - transcendence that is up there with the endings of "The Last Dance" or "Second Language"

It's that feel which I'd like to see Junior Boys go for a bit more. Oddly the one track on the album that really feels a bit like it is "More Than Real", the way the groove just plays out at the end.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Interesting you mention Disco Inferno, as I brought it up to the feller last night unprompted (what IS his name? The bearded singer?). He has heard some and was intrigued. I'm on their e-mail list now so I should send him a copy of That CDR Collection.

Ah wait, he did also say this! He apparently just heard Slowdive's Pygmalion for the first time and was blown away. That to my mind sounds very promising in terms of what he could do with that sound.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

what IS his name? The bearded singer?)

Jeremy.

― Howard Wine (nordicskilla), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Gracias.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, wait, here's my other question -- did I miss a lineup change or do only two out of three actually tour?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Aren't there only two Junior Boys?

― Howard Wine (nordicskilla), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it was previously Jeremy and a different guy to the one it is now. Actually I have a weird memory of it initially being Jeremy and his brother, but that may be fabricated by my imagination.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

There are three people listed for the album credits -- Jeremy, Matt Didemus and Johnny Dark.

"Under the Sun" now playing and Jordan is a crack-smoker. There.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

That's just it, all my favorite songs from the album are the ones that Johnny Dark co-wrote/produced. Under the Sun just doesn't have enough there for me, it's too much plodding non-descript 80'sism.

Too much of the soundtrack to the 80s remix of Fritz Lang's Metropolis and not enough Timbaland.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Johnny Dark was the original member along with Jeremy (Greenspan! He was destined to be embraced by ILM...). Actually I don't think they're brothers.

I agree w/ Jordan to the extent that I generally prefer the more R&B-ish tracks.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

As i may have said before here or elsewhere, their original promo presented an entirely different picture of them in that "Birthday" was the most 80s/new wave thing on there and it was complemented by almost instrumental 2-step rhythm tracks like "You Want To" and "I'm So Into You" - which were slightly weaker. At the time I thought "they should probably allow themselves to be more songful"; the new stuff on the album bore that out more than I would have anticipated.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

not to encourage the accusations of emo, but received a txt from a friend saying he'd just broken up w/his g/f, followed ten minutes later w/:
"O but hey,how gd does that junior boys song u gav me sound wen goin thru a lil emotional confustion? Cool"

― etc, Friday, 8 October 2004 22:03 (twenty-one years ago)

That doesn't necessarily make it emo though. I usually put on Darklands after a breakup. Maybe the Jesus and Mary Chain *are* emo!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 8 October 2004 22:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I found an odd article where the author used Last Exit to explain an 'album rating theory'.
sample quote - I now realise that a mediocre album and a very good album are actually the same thing up until about 10 - 15 listens. After that, depending on the quality of the tracks that don't immediately appeal or jump out, it could either be very good (The Prodigy) or mediocre (Junior Boys).

btw - pleased to hear you're still enjoying the album, ned

― nick.K (nick.K), Friday, 8 October 2004 22:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Why thanks! It's a grower, and that is no insult. What seemed initially to be something of a samey listen has changed much over time in my mind -- I always like albums that do that. I think there's a distinction to be made between releases that don't invite the necessary relistens to overcome that perception and those that do, and what that element is is often hard to pin down, and differs from album to album.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 October 2004 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

two weeks pass...

Happened to be walking by Other Music tonight at the same time they were playing an in-store for about 30 people. Good enough that I now want to buy their album, but (as far as live shows go) I wish they were taller. And English. And girls.

― dlp9001, Sunday, 24 October 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

the new songs (live) are great - want to hear more!

― Paul (scifisoul), Monday, 25 October 2004 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

so what did people make of the NY show?

― nick.K (nick.K), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

It was kinda like their album. In fact, some songs were more interesting than their album versions ("Under the Sun" in particular). If you'd never heard them before, it would have been a great introudction.

Ratatat was surprisingly good, seeing as I hated them the last time I saw them. Maybe it was because I was farther back in the crowd. and dancing.

and was it me, or did Mouse on Mars just break it fucking open after the first 3 songs? About the time where they said they'd play something with more rhythm, it became absolutely incredibly fun.

and there definitely wasn't enough dancing.

― lemin (lemin), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 00:43 (twenty-one years ago)

just back from the cambridge show - i thought they were fantastic, way better than i imagined their live show would be. ratatat also impressed me a good deal, i suspect they're shit on record but they're a lot of fun live. mouse on mars sucked, though.

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 03:19 (twenty-one years ago)

anyone else notice the newOrder sample on Three Words? The high hat rhythm and snare hit are sampled from Truth on Movement...though it could be the Peel Sessions version they sampled...either way, it's newOrder!

― biznotic, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 03:38 (twenty-one years ago)

finally got it last night and "got it" fairly quickly. its ace. came at the right moment too, as i was getting a bit bogged down at work and needed some music to remind me of the existence of possibility. fall release also perfect as it coincides with the dusting off of all my OMD and associates records ("white car in germany", as brilliant as it is, is difficult to consume in DC in July, DC having some of the most crappy summer weather in all the US). unfortunately, i missed the tour, though the likelihood that i would have been able to afford taking off work AND get any friends to come along AND get them to see the opener for the opener, was sorta low, though this is one of those bands i would have liked to have been able to say i saw on their first visit. anyways, if, on an off chance, i ever become wealthy, i am going to give you a call nick and come work for Kin for free ;-)

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought the NYC show as great. I actually had never heard Mouse on Mars before the show, and they completely blew me away. As for the Junior Boys themselves, I thought they came off pretty well. And the 2 new songs they played (new to me, at least) were very cool. Ratatat were okay, a lot more energetic than I expected, but not as fun as the Jr. Boys, I thought, and certainly nowhere near Mouse on Mars.

― Maciej Kasperowicz (Maciej), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

The idiotic Peter Margasak in the Chicago Reader:

"Opening the show is Canadian duo Junior Boys, whose debut album, Last Exit (Domino/KIN), fuses mopey indie-pop vocals to spare synth melodies and fractured microhouse beats. The songs sound to me like minimal Timbaland remixes of obscure Pet Shop Boys tunes—and that’s not a compliment."

Come on! In what world does Timbaland remixing the Pet Shop Boys not sound awesome???

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 29 October 2004 02:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey, some people still thought that the ultimate 80s group was the Del-Fuegos.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 29 October 2004 03:33 (twenty-one years ago)

i actually like margasak and he's entitled to his opinion--it's funny that his description of jr boys is actually fairly accurate, but he takes it as a negative and i take it as a positive. go figure.

― amateur!!st, Friday, 29 October 2004 03:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Mouse on Mars (live) fucking kick ass. Yay.

― tk, Friday, 29 October 2004 08:28 (twenty-one years ago)

It's been a long time since either Timbaland or the Pet Shop Boys "sounded awesome."

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 29 October 2004 08:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Marcello re the former have you heard "Get On Dis Motorcycle" or "Keep It Moving" or the best tracks from the last Bubba album?

That said the Timbaland tracks Junior Boys theoretically take their cues from are like five years old.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Specifically a couple of tracks from Missy's Da Real World.

Although really if you're gonna be strict about it I always thought a 2-step connection was easier to make out than a clear and distinct Timbaland connection - Steve Gurley particularly.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Tracks 2 and 3 were the only ones I wanted to keep from the last Bubba album. The rest of it sounded like Guns N' Roses melted into a banjo fondue to soundtrack reruns of CHIPS.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 29 October 2004 13:17 (twenty-one years ago)

That sounds awesome though.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Which were 2 and 3 again?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:19 (twenty-one years ago)

The ones that sounded more country. Track 2 had Ryan Pedder on vocals. Can't remember what they were called, being at work and the CD not being to hand.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 29 October 2004 13:21 (twenty-one years ago)

'Jimmy Mathis' and 'Comin' Round'. MC be more of a Neptunes man, right?

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)

MC you gotta love "Nowhere" and "Deliverance" and "Hootenanny", right?

Everyone quotes it a lot but I love that line in "Deliverance", "Solid on the surface as I crumble within/but legends are made out of vulnerable men"

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

To be utterly honest, Tim, that's the first time I've seen anyone quote the line!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 29 October 2004 13:25 (twenty-one years ago)

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