Posted: 02/14/07

Junior Boys
This Is Goodbye

Patrick Smith | contributing writer
psmith4@smcvt.edu

It seems to be impossible to discuss any band without somehow comparing them to other bands, both past and contemporary. With a band like the Junior Boys, it raises a strange question: when the influences are many, and sometimes impossible to pin down, what then? So This is Goodbye constantly reminds the listener of something but what exactly? Sometimes this uncertainty is a sign of complete unoriginality and is only and insult, but here, it’s strong reason the album succeeds.

This doesn't mean that clear comparisons aren’t valid with the Junior Boys. This album has some examples of electro-pop at its finest, and it's entirely listenable. In the finest of mainstream allusions, The Postal Service comes to mind. This only works on the most basic level however—where The Postal Service are sappy, soft-hearted and full of a sensitive take on love, the Junior Boys take a different stance. It’s a darker album, lyrically and musically. It’s the openness of The Postal Service, but turned personal. The lyrics aren’t a public cry. A confession to the lost lover, a personal lament, yes, but not an open account. And a good deal more angry, less still in love with the person who ripped out the heart, there is no sign of a reconciliation with lines like “You’ll get yours baby, in the end.”

The beats themselves aren’t complicated, they don’t strain the listener trying to keep up. Each song tends to fall into a pattern, and for the most part, stays there. Judging by the music, it is easy to see the Junior Boys as a patient duo. Long intros, without variance, especially on “Like A Child,” have their perks. The first time you hear it, just when you are about to get sick of it and give up, things change, and then the vocals start. However, on another listen or two, patience may wear thin. When listening closely, you need to be as patient as them, and this can be a little trying. This isn’t to say they are that dreadfully simple and boring. Each song does have its beat, and sticks there, but most play out a little like the electronic game Simon Says. A simple sequence, then later, something more complicated is built on top of that. Then there is “In the Morning” which seems to be them trying to figure out how much their electro-pop can rock without losing itself.

One major factor a listener must be aware of before getting this album is how they feel about music from the 80’s as a whole. There doesn’t seem to be a genre from that decade that doesn’t influence the music. Throughout, the classic guitars and synths of the most stereotypical 80’s rock become the calmed down and dark electronic beats. The same goes for any of the New Wave. Its there, except dark and moody, withdrawn. It is similar to the French group Nouvelle Vague. Finally, and most fittingly, Greenspan’s vocals show off Morrissey chops every few songs, most distinctly on, “Count Souvenirs”. If you don’t want to be reminded of the 80’s, stay away. If you think there was something good, it just needs to be revisited slightly, get to know the Junior Boys.

However, there is no steering away the most depressing side of the album. On “No One Cares”, when Jeremy Greenspan sings “When no one cares/you count souvenirs/and they glisten with your tears,” it manages to not be sappy, because his voice is so sincere, and well, the music backs him up. At no point does it break out to any cheery beats, it is consistent in its mood.

So maybe that is all So This is Goodbye amounts to in the end, a mood album. Its an easy way to dismiss some music, if all it does is evoke an emotion, a certain feeling. Dismiss it because counting a feeling over substance is an out the artists took because they can’t do any better. It’s a criticism with some merit, sometimes. Fortunately, its not quite the case here. The Junior Boys do the mood well enough, the withdrawn, melancholy, lonely figure mood, that it does have merit. Lyrics and themes reoccur, like going over the physical reminders of a lost relationship. It is not a stretching artistic endeavor reaching to new heights, but it is a rewarding listen, if the mood suits you.