So This is Goodbye

Mojo - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[B]reathy, vulnerable vocals, taut and toned electro...and German minimalism..." CMJ - "[A] collection of wonderfully glacial, surprisingly intimate electronic tracks....[They] keep every minimalist drum machine loop and hollow, bleeping effect anchored in a fragile humanity." Uncut - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he Junior Boys lift classic motifs from across the history of graceful, breathy electronic pop." Rolling Stone - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[The album] tosses in tunes with breathy Eighties vocals, well-placed atmospherics and chilly-chill beats." Vibe - "[O]n their excellent second album, they smuggle in their fey, love-is-all affect amid percolating electro-soul beats and gorgeous, sublime pop hooks." Q - Ranked #75 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006." Rolling Stone (p.86) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[The album] tosses in tunes with breathy Eighties vocals, well-placed atmospherics and chilly-chill beats." Q (p.117) - Ranked #75 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006." Uncut (p.112) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he Junior Boys lift classic motifs from across the history of graceful, breathy electronic pop." CMJ (p.4) - "[A] collection of wonderfully glacial, surprisingly intimate electronic tracks....[They] keep every minimalist drum machine loop and hollow, bleeping effect anchored in a fragile humanity." Vibe (p.161) - "[O]n their excellent second album, they smuggle in their fey, love-is-all affect amid percolating electro-soul beats and gorgeous, sublime pop hooks." Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[B]reathy, vulnerable vocals, taut and toned electro...and German minimalism..."

While Junior Boys' debut indie sleeper LAST EXIT leaned more toward pastiche--a product of influences as far afield as 2-step garage and Timbaland's stutter-funk--their sophomore effort, SO THIS IS GOODBYE, is a step toward pop song form (albeit of the slowly unfurling, epic variety). Junior Boys recast the notion of northern soul in terms of blue-eyed crooners born of icy Canadian winters, as opposed to the inner-city blues of the American rustbelt. Jeremy Greenspan's weightlessly gorgeous voice contrasts with the music's frigid, prickly synth arpeggiation--extending like icicles from aerated frozen tundra. Steeped in elegant melodies and artful textures, Junior Boys remodel new romantic pop as etherealized neo-soul.|