Jeremy Greenspan/Matt Didemus a.k.a. JUNIOR BOYS’ second album is their first on Domino, home of such household names as Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand et al
Facilitating the merger of European techno with stateside dance vibrations, the record boasts an array of tunes that rework their nodding penchant for the infancy of techno’s synthesiser-driven sounds.
‘Double Shadow’ is a delicious and discordant opening that sees slightly warped Chicago house twinned with the splashing, ambient echoes of the Mediterranean as they add the delicate depth charges to this heavy breathing, rhythmic pulse.
If you are a techno-headed sort of kid, you might find the bleeping grinding sterility of ‘First Time’ reminiscent of Ricardo Rocchi – the toga-clad Italian DJ responsible for the quite brilliant ‘It’s A Melting Pot Of Emotions’ some 13 years previously. It’s a magically sparse sound, here superbly blended with vocal reverb. The track is a definite highlight.
The breaks and deep house echoes return along with a rave generation dawn chorus that is so real you can touch it - ‘So This Is Goodbye’ is lyrically adept enough to stay flowing with the current of this sound like the first hint of sunrise through a warehouse ceiling – without detracting from the beautifully abstract power of pure joy that the track glows with – what occurs is a stirring of the memory, rather than the senses or the soul though, as there is no new ground being explored.
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And there are places where the tracks don’t sit too easily with the vocals, and then the lyrics can sound like they’ve been cut adrift from some other song, or one remixed beyond all recognition. It is then that the experimental ambience of the tunes should be allowed to unfold free from such vocal hindrances.
The tracks are strong though, in the main, and whilst not exactly radio-friendly, this will find its way into many a collection, methinks. Overall, it’s OK, but not earth-shatteringly good.
www.juniorboys.net
www.myspace.com/juniorboys
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