Junior Boys

All Music Guide:

A Hamilton, Ontario-based electronic pop group, Junior Boys began as a duo with its duties split between Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark. Influenced by a number of music sectors -- including arty synth pop, minimal techno, U.K. garage, and contemporary hip-hop -- the two made a demo with no positive results. Dark opted to leave the group (he would go on to release solo material and form one half of the duo Stereo Image), but former Warp employee Nick Kilroy heard the songs and became interested enough to start the KIN label with Junior Boys as its first artist. Engineer Matt Didemus joined Greenspan, and together they recorded enough material for a full-length. Prior to the 2004 release of the resulting album, titled Last Exit, a pair of 12" singles were released; one included a remix from Fennesz, while the other featured a remix from Manitoba. Three months after Last Exit's initial U.K. release, Domino picked up the album for distribution in the U.S. The Domino version added a bonus disc with B-sides and remixes from the 12" releases. The relatively slick So This Is Goodbye followed in 2006. Two years later, they provided the sixth volume of the Get Physical label's Body Language mix series, and Begone Dull Care -- inspired by illustrator and director Norman McLaren and jazz pianist Oscar Peterson's collaboration of the same name -- followed in 2009. It's All True, the JBs' lightest and most playful album (from a sonic standpoint), was released two years later. It's closing track, "Banana Ripple," was remixed by the Field and disco pioneer Tom Moulton.

Wikipedia:

Junior Boys are a Canadian electronic music group, founded in 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

History[edit]

Junior Boys formed in 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada as a duo of Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark. Years of collaboration followed and a demo was produced, but after many rejections and near-misses, they were resigned to being bedroom beat constructors. Soon after, Johnny Dark left the band to pursue other interests. Eventually, KIN Records heard their demo at the end of 2002 and commissioned more work from remaining member Greenspan. Hooking up with his engineer, Matt Didemus, he began again, writing more material and pulling an album together.

The first release Birthday/Last Exit came in October 2003 – a four-track EP with a remix by Fennesz which brought them near-unanimous acclaim. The High Come Down EP followed in February 2004 with a Manitoba (now Caribou) remix and word began to spread. Their debut album, Last Exit (recorded at the end of 2003 by Greenspan and Didemus in Hamilton), was released 21 September 2004 on KIN Records. A reissue on Domino featured the Manitoba mix of Birthday, a Fennesz mix of title track, and a new track.

Junior Boys' most popular track, Birthday, was featured in Sander Kleinenberg's high acclaimed mix CD This Is Everybody Too.

The duo has since embarked on a number of tours with Caribou.

In 2006 Junior Boys have reappeared with new releases. A remix of "The Loving Sounds of Static" by Mobius Band was released on the Ghostly International Idol Tryouts 2 compilation on 7 March 2006. "Max", a new original song, was released on the Paper Bag Records compilation See You on the Moon! on 21 March 2006. Their second full-length album, So This Is Goodbye, was released in August 2006 on Domino Records.

2007 saw the Junior Boys embarking on a North American tour, and then headed to Europe for numerous festivals, continuing into the summer. The remix EP The Dead Horse EP was released in April containing remixes of tracks from So This Is Goodbye. An iTunes exclusive live EP was also released, reminiscent of a John Peel recording, with four live tracks.

Almost a year after its initial release So This Is Goodbye was re-released as a bonus edition including the original album, and remixes from the singles and the live tracks from the iTunes session.

On 10 July 2007, Junior Boys second album was revealed as being on the shortlist for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize. They did not ultimately win the prize.

In April 2008 a single on the German Get Physical label was released titled "No Kinda Man", with mixes by Jona and Chloé. The original mix had just been featured on the same label's "Body Language Six" compilation released in March. Whilst the vinyl version was compiled by the band, the CD version was also mixed by the duo.

In September 2008, Morgan Geist's new album "Double Night Time" was released with five songs featuring Jeremy Greenspan.

On 16 January 2009, Junior Boys announced in an official press release that their third full length album would be titled Begone Dull Care, and released on 24 March 2009 in Canada, 7 April in the United States and 11 May in Germany. The title and content of the new album was stated to be inspired by the Canadian animator Norman McLaren. A single from the album, "Hazel", was released on Domino Recording Company in April 2009.

Junior Boys finally managed to tour Australia in September 2009 as part of the Parklife Festival.

On 9 October 2010, via their Facebook page, they announced that their new album was nearly complete. On 11 March 2011, Junior Boys announced that their new album, It's All True, will be released on 13 June 2011.

Luke Winkie at Paste Magazine reviewed It's All True and the album received a score of 7.7 out of ten from the magazine. Winkie at Paste stated, "If Junior Boys’ fourth album It’s All True proves anything, it’s that the Ontarian, indie-electro originals will never be fully defrosted. Their stealthy, dampened beat-work has kept them remarkably suave in a subgenre that generally softens up to a dorkier demographic – and seven years since Last Exit the band is as frigidly unflappable as ever, progressing nicely through their expected idiosyncrasies, while continuing to sound effortlessly and solitarily cool."

They have been chosen by Caribou to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Promotions and media[edit]

In support of their 2006 album So This Is Goodbye, Junior Boys launched a fan-submitted video contest in conjunction with Domino Records and Imeem.com. Participants were invited to use any song from So This Is Goodbye as the soundtrack for their original video creations. The winner is to receive a $1000 in cash and prizes.

In October 2006 Junior Boys launched SoThisIsGoodbye.com, an interactive flash website based on the inspiration for the title. “It’s about dealing with the kind of goodbyes you say to things all the time that actually don’t tear you to pieces” explains Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys. Users were invited to post goodbye messages in the spirit of the title and to read those of others.

In December 2006 Junior Boys produced a podcast with interview clips and tracks from So This Is Goodbye. The podcast was featured as part of the Dominocast series of podcasts.

In August 2007 the track "In The Morning" from So This Is Goodbye was featured in Mack Dawg Productions "Picture This" for Finnish professional snowboarder Eero Ettala's video part. "In The Morning" was also used for the "Picture This" trailer.