Junior Boys . Last Exit



A midnight drive in your private limousine, through the rain-soaked city: neon lights reflect off the tinted windows and liquid patterns play upon the dashboard and the lap of your sweetheart beside you. In the hopelessly expensive stereo system, providing the soundtrack for this Don DeLillo-esque scene, is the wondrously suave electro pop of Birthday by Junior Boys.
em dustedmagazine.com

Hamilton, Ontario, has until now boasted Daniel Lanois as its most famous export but Canada’s ‘Steeltown’ may find itself in the spotlight once again with the release of the Junior Boys’ Last Exit. Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark formed the group there in 1999 and, after some protracted delays, released the 2003 EP Birthday to strong acclaim. Not only did it establish the group’s lush electropop sound but it raised the Boys’ profile further with the inclusion of a Fennesz remix. Much of that EP reappears on Last Exit which finds Greenspan, Dark, and Matt Didemus spreading their distinctive style across ten tracks. The group’s beguiling, experimental synth-pop is an unusual amalgam of disparate elements: fragile, wistful vocals (courtesy of lead vocalist and principal songwriter Greenspan), Timbaland-styled beats, and reverberant dub production treatments. Instrumentally, echoes of Human League and Depeche Mode surface while, vocally, Greenspan’s soft, sensual style recalls a less affected David Sylvian. The opener ‘More Than Real’ immediately establishes the Junior Boys template by merging funk drum programming with burbling synth squiggles. ‘Under the Sun’ and ‘Three Words’ are dreamier pieces suffused with ambient auras, while the ‘80s electropop style of ‘Birthday’ pairs hushed vocals and lovelorn lyrics with glistening synths. The minimal techno opening of ‘Bellona’ suggests a Kompakt influence but the song turns soulful as Greenspan’s vocal moves from a lower register in the verse to a higher one in the euphoric chorus. The best tracks are ‘Last Exit,’ whose spacious arrangement features whispered vocals, an inventive stop-start funk beat, and dubby echo patterns, and the soaring electropop of ‘Teach Me How To Fight’ with its buoyant vocal chorus. As satisfying as Last Exit is, one thing in particular would make it better. The sax flutter on ‘When I’m Not Around’ suggests that the group’s sound would be enriched by other instruments beyond the drum programming and electronics that dominate. Imagine how the supple warmth of an acoustic bass would deepen the tracks, for instance, or how horns might complement Greenspan’s delicate vocal style. That’s a modest criticism, however, of an otherwise refreshing release. It’s a largely successful re-imagining of ‘plastic soul,’ the term Bowie infamously coined to describe his Young Americans style.
em absorg.org

Após a edição dos ep's 'Birthday' e 'High Come Down' no final de 2003 e do imediato reconhecimento crítico dos sectores mais esclarecidos, 'Last Exit' tornou-se um dos acontecimentos discográficos mais esperados dos últimos meses.
'Last Exit' é um produto do tempo que vivemos. Isto é, na sua forma de combinar letras relativamente simples, cantadas numa voz simultaneamente glacial e introspectiva, suportada por batidas esqueléticas, grooves disco e sintetizadores espectrais, relembra diversas outras referências mas exibe uma actualidade que só poderia ser a do nosso tempo.
Imaginam-se as produções esquemáticas de Timbaland ao serviço da voz nostálgica de David Sylvian ou do sentido pop dos New Order. Ou os épicos dos Depeche Mode (que, nem de propósito, eu sempre odiei) reformulados pelo techno-dub da Basic Channel, caso Vladislav Delay resolvesse produzir uma faixa de two step.
É possível estabelecer vários pontos de contacto, mas aquilo que se pode ouvir aqui é garantidamente único e está para além da fórmula 'X a fazer o que Y costuma fazer com a colaboração de Z'. Mais uma vez, a diferença está no cuidado com que são trabalhados os detalhes mais insignificantes; sob uma música de apelo imediato esconde-se uma estrutura que se molda e transforma permanentemente e que revela pormenores diferentes em cada audição.
No fundo, como uma frase no website dos Junior Boys define de forma certeira, 'Last Exit' reinventa a pop electrónica - vilipendiada desde os tempos dos Pet Shop Boys - da mesma forma que 'Vocalcity' de Luomo alterou o rumo da house.
Entretanto o meu instinto vai-me dizendo que este é bem capaz de ser o melhor disco do ano e que é prudente usufruir deste momento de revelação antes que chegue o alcatrão e as penas das primeiras vozes discordantes.
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01More Than Real
02Bellona
03High Come Down *
04Last Exit *
05Neon Rider
06Birthday *
07Under The Sun *
08Tree Words
09Teach Me How To Fight
10When I'm Not Around
* previously available