A couple years ago I shared an apartment with two good friends. Our bedrooms were lined up on a long hallway, and as you walked down it each open door would offer a passing snippet of whatever music we were listening to. It was while sliding down that dark tunnel one night that a few seconds of Junior Boys’ “Bellona” literally knocked me over. Like onto the ground. I whipped back with the most natural and wild double-take I’ve ever whipped to see what my roommate was playing, and our little hall just couldn’t handle my enthusiasm.
Last Exit rarely left my playlist after that introduciton. Its merging of IDM-influenced electro production with an unabashedly emotive lead singer wasn’t totally fresh in concept – The Postal Service had already released their breakthrough LP. Yet Last Exit had a markedly different soul – a pronounced R&B influence, and a more grounded, at times jaded, lead. Vocalist/writer Greenspan’s performance somehow believably conveyed a dejected loneliness and a frustrated sexuality at the same time. But it was the odd rhythms of Last Exit that really drew me in. The drums were meticulously programmed and very dense, yet never overwhelming. The best songs gave maximum space for syncopated skitter-skatter hi-hats to flutter between the sparse, but also rhythmically interesting synth lines. Much of this was probably due to former member Johnny Dark, who had production credits on all of my favorites.
I haven’t listened to So This is Goodbye, the Boys 2006 release, nearly as much. It’s a more streamlined album, with relatively simplistic rhythms and melodies and a more confident, empowered Greenspan. It’s still an excellent record, but its popish aims stripped away much of what gave the first album staying power with me.
Onstage, Junior Boys put on a respectable show. Producer Didemus stayed behind a row of hardware and a laptop, but didn’t do much besides trigger the next arpeggio or pad loop. I think he may have played one or two synth lines live. Greenspan was much more active, alternating between playing guitar and bass while singing in a range only slightly narrower than on the albums. But while his voice was surprisingly clear live, the sexual pantings deployed on some of their newer songs seemed all the more contrived onstage. He just couldn’t quite pull them off. That being said, the sound was great, and they played almost every song I would expect them to, with the glaring, disappointing exception of “High Come Down.” They almost made up for that transgression with a rousing performance of “Under The Sun,” probably the most boring album track off of Last Exit. It was as if they wanted to let the fans know how the song was supposed to sound, and it was good.
These last two shows have been a crash course in photography. For this show, I was experimenting with “taking pictures of the back of dudes’ heads” and “fooling with settings I don’t understand.” Enjoy!
