Two quick takes on Junior Boys, who perform tomorrow with Max Tundra at Bimbo's (Thu/16, 7 p.m., $18. Bimbo's 365 Club, 1025 Columbus, SF. www.bimbos365club.com)
Junior Boys
Begone Dull Care
(Domino)
Johnny Ray Huston:
The knives are out at least a little for the critics' darling duo, and to be fair, this third full-length falters a bit in following the breakthrough of 2007's So This is Goodbye. But "Work" might be Junior Boys' best composition, and "Sneak a Picture" is simply sweet. A reward for those who care enough to dig: the title and lyrics braid through the life and work of Canadian animator Norman McLaren.
Junior Boys, "Work" live
Marke B.:
Are Junior Boys the new Blow Monkeys? Early critical reaction to the acclaimed Canadian duo's third, just-released full-length suggests the act's delicately distilled '80s-ish synthpop is on the verge of tilting into overproduced schmaltz. This is ridiculous. Yes, there's a suave saxophone solo and "ooh ooh ooh" chorus on the retro-disco "Bits & Pieces," and if you squint your ears, "Hazel" might be "Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz. But the early-Factory Records electro-minimalism, softly pleading vocals, and hungover-dawn imagery of the Boys' first two albums remains at the core of their sound — it just seems a little extra fussed over. In concert, Junior Boys amp up the guitars and live drumming aspects to create deep, extended jam sets, and the new Section 25-esque barnstormer "Work" should send the Bimbo's crowd into orbit. Opener Max Tundra is spastically delicious, a thousand split-second electronic microsymphonies scrunched into one goofy Brit schmo.
Junior Boys, "Hazel"
Johnny Hates Jazz, "Shattered Dreams"
Bonus: Blow Monkeys! "It Doesn't Have to Be This Way"
Max Tundra, "Will Get Fooled Again"
View the previous Snap Sound here
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