Search - Junior Boys :: So This Is Goodbye (Dlx)

So this is hello

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 06/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Junior Boys have made a solid second album in "So This is Goodbye"... which hopefully isn't a bad omen. Because it would be a shame to quit when this electro-indie band is still making good music -- smooth dance beats and satiny vocals, with a heavy dose of chillout and downtempo.



It opens with a string of hiccupy blips, and soon a breathless voice murmurs, "You're two faced.../all sideways.../you're dry-eyed.../and night fly..." A funky rhythm kicks in, keeping the spare beats from sounding too dull, but it's still only an introduction.



The good stuff is with "The Equalizer," a solid beat that regularly softens those cold beats with stretches of shimmering downtempo. Then they change the same formula for "First Time," which is a pretty trip-hop sound that gets sprinkled with sharp computerized beats. Not catchy, just so you know.



That mix of sharp beats and downtempo continues as the album trips on. The melodies are fragile, the beats are robust -- they glide through the vaguely ominous "In the Morning," cascade through the bittersweet sound of "So This is Goodbye," and jerk through the robotic "Caught in a Wave." The ending song, "FM," is a surprisingly soft finale, with a very soft melody and those computer beats.



This particular version has a bonus disc, which includes their Itunes EP: four sparkling renditions of various, including the shimmery "FM," funky "Under the Sun," and haunting piano folk of "When No One Cares." They sound a bit different from the original songs, but it's so polished you wouldn't know that this was a live session.



And it's loaded down with some lovely remixes: "FM" gets a shimmy techno reworking, and a fuzzy airy one. Hot Chip reworks "In the Morning" into a delicate spin of soft beats, "Double Shadow" gets a skittering, slightly ominous mix, and "Equaliser" gets a weird yowly skittery one with lots of jagged beats. And there are more!



Perhaps "So This is Goodbye" has only one real flaw: the songs tend to blur together over the listening period, since the beat/chillout ratio is the same for most of them. So it might take a few listens before this one really pops in your head.



But that ratio is very good -- the chillout electronica lulls you, and the cold robot beats snap you out of the trance. And while the first song strives to be catchy, the later ones abandon that in favor of experimental sound and chilly soundscapes, flavoured with the occasional burst of static.



Jeremy Greenspan's voice is the opposite of full-bodied. He sounds drained, worn-out, as if he's wandering around in his own wintry music. This impression certainly isn't hurt by lyrics like, "stay awhile/we don't have long/we could talk for hours/till my strength is gone/though I get so tired/I still get wired/my pulse is still... I'm like a child."



A delicious mishmash of hard electronica and soft downtempo, this chilly little album is a solid second album for the Junior Boys. Not to mention a bad way to reminisce about winter."

Electronic Dance for the Indie Kid

Joseph Carlough | New Jersey | 03/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like soft electronics and wish you could find dance clubs for indie kids, this is the perfect CD for you. It's energetic, but never abrasive, and kind of makes you want to whip out that MIDI keyboard and just go nuts, adding your own echo effects and airy vocals. When you open all the windows while you're driving and do a little dance in your seat, I really hope it's to this CD."

I love the Junior Boys...

Ms. Muyo | Universal Traveller | 08/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"if you want good melodic electronica that does anything but bore you, check out the junior boys...I almost like the remixed track album as much as the original. I LOVE these guys"