When Junior Boys played the Bowery Ballroom back in September, they were clad in stark white jumpsuits with large popped collars and laceless white shoes that set the mood of detached ambience pretty quickly. Thus, it was rather strange for me this time when the duo took the stage and were wearing their normal street clothes (jeans, plaid shirts, etc.), making them out to be average Canadian indie rockers and not the spaced out techno-pop wondergroup they really are. But at the end of the day, the outfit’s just an outfit, and while Junior Boys may have gone backwards in wardrobe, they’re performance was even tighter than it was last time.

While the duo primarily works in synths and programming, for live shows Jeremy Greenspan switches between bass and guitar and covers vocals, while engineer Matt Didemus covers the pre-recorded music and the multiple synthesizers. Though drum machines alone keep the rhythms on the albums, on tour Junior Boys bring along a drummer that plays alongside (note: not in place of) the drum machine. In September I remember noting that the choice was interesting, but occasionally the double rhythm section could get cumbersome and clunky. This time, however, the drumming was much tighter and better married to the drum machine, and they syncopated together to form a backbone that was both innovative and organic.

This show reminded me how solid their music really is, and how quickly it can entrance masses of concertgoers into a thick, pulsating dance with gorgeous, ethereal synth-pop. The sound was carefully mixed so each new wave of synthesizers could wash gently over us, layer by layer, in contrast with the beating stacatto rhythms that led us in our calm sway. As my body slowly grooved, my eyes closed and I drifted through my mind to my fantasy high school prom, where Depeche Mode is the band and we all swim our arms slowly through the air in a hypnotic 80’s love dance; part naive emotional teenagers, part 21st century love robots.

The set-list was fantastic, especially the seven minute closer “Under the Sun,” whose subtle and nuanced programming lapped at our chests and lulled us into speechlessness. Overall, I’d say this show wasn’t much different from the last one. Junior Boys put on a great performance with a very specific trancey mood that I’ve come to love. I can’t recommend enough that you check out the last two records and make an effort to catch their live show if it’s anywhere near you.

Domino Records also recently released an E.P. of remixes from the most recent Junior Boys album So This Is Goodbye called The Dead Horse EP. The tracks include remixes from various electronic artists, notably a fantastic 10 minute version of “In The Morning” by Hot Chip. Or, if you don’t already have So This is Goodbye, Domino will be re-releasing it as a special edition which will include these remixes plus a live iTunes session on June 5.

Set List:
Count Souvenirs
The Equalizer
Teach Me How To Fight
Like a Child
Birthday
Double Shadow
So This is Goodbye
In The Morning
More Than Real

Encore:
Under The Sun

External Links
Junior Boys Website
Stream Junior Boys Music
Junior Boys Myspace
Domino Records 

Internal Links
Junior Boys and Ensemble at Bowery Ballroom September 7, 2006 
Review of Junior Boys So This Is Goodbye

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 6:10 pm and is filed under SHOWS/EVENTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.