31. Junior Boys - Last Exit (2004)

Junior Boys are a duo from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Initially comprising bedroom producers Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark; they spent the first few years of the new millennium putting together demos and shipping them around. Johnny Dark then left the group to pursue other interests, and in the meantime the Kin label showed interest in the demos and commissioned further work.
Teaming up with local engineer Matt Didemus, Greenspan worked on the demos and wrote some new material which led to the release of the debut album Last Exit.

Last Exit was a slow burner, not initially selling, but gradually building a reputation, especially on the new format of the blog. This was the golden age of the blog, and many of the most progressive and interesting writers came to this new format, attracted by the lack of an editor and the freedom to express ideas and write in long form, which would never be excepted in a monthly or weekly publication.

Artists were also able to write and publish in real time, quickly creating scenes with like-minded acts and individuals around the planet. Authors like Simon Reynolds and the Hyperdub label boss Steve Goodman (AKA Kode9) were early champions of Junior Boys.

Last Exit was an important development in North American dance music, and might represent the New Order at Paradise garage, Depeche Mode moment, as an act that could combine song craft and real dancefloor knowledge. It feels as though the beats come from a genuine love of grassroots house, grime and 2-step garage. Unlike contemporaneous British shite like Klaxons, who, like a pisstake of rave, appeared as an art school rock band with glow sticks.

Greenspan's songs on Last Exit combine intricate electronic rhythms with soft breathy vocals, reminiscent of Prefab Sprout or Scritti Politti, albeit without such good lyrics!
Themes of travel, distance and a yearning sweetness inhabit these tracks of groove and seduction. Subject matter which was familiar to the indie crowd, who embraced them; as did dance producers like Manitoba and Carl Craig who provided remixes.

Birthday and High Come Down were released as singles and are both on the album, proper pop. Stuttering intricate garage beats, Greenspan wants to 'see you shake this whole damn crowd'. Birthday about being forgotten on your birthday or some such nonsense, is almost Morrisseyesque in it's self-pity (a good thing).
This kind of melancholy has since been fully absorbed into the music of acts like The Weeknd or Drake, the natural successors of Morrissey.



Under the Sun is a good track, driving and mid paced like Krautrock meets Madchester. Teach Me How to Fight, expresses sentiments last heard from early 90's ultra indie Sarah records groups like the Sea Urchins, although perhaps The Field Mice with their electro indie heartbreaks are a closer fit.
Very underrated group The Field Mice.


Anyhoo Junior Boys went on to more success with their following album, the also excellent 'So this is goodbye'. Their most recent album Big Black Coat came out this year.