In the Bedroom
For a while, music described as bedroom was, to me, as perfect as it came. It was blurred lines between the artist/myself/anyone, it was frayed edges that I found endearing and remarkably true-to-life. Eventually I would outgrow this, sincere and warm would become precious and samey, and Fevers and Mirrors never held the same weight again. Anyone can pour themselves into a four-track means anyone can pour themselves into a four-track, while far fewer people than anyone have the tale and the talent to make it work.
I've semi-consciously stayed clear of the bedroom since, treating the word as a euphemism more than a proper descriptor. But this scares me: what if someone had described the Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye to me as a bedroom album? Because it is, it absolutely and unquestionably is, and it also happens to be one of my favorite releases this year. No, you'll never confuse this for an Oberst original, but consider the sense of space (or confinement), the confessional lyrics, and the lighting. So This Is Goodbye is the room in the coming morning, beginning at midnight and racing, fumbling, into the "First Time," admitting that "I don't really know what to do." It's sexy, and it gets sexier, but I've never heard it so candid. There's a climax, two o'clock, "In the Morning," breath sharp and shallow - an instant classic. But it gets late, and "the nights are endless things," as Jeremy Greenspan covers Sinatra in the penultimate track, "When No One Cares." Finally, coming up with the sun, "FM" washes away the night's false clarity with a persistent and perfectly revealing infusion of light. "And then one more year/ Becomes one more year/ And you'll forget me soon, I swear." I appreciate complete albums, especially when they've got closing statements as well thought-out and appropriate as this, which is less often than you'd think.
With So This Is Goodbye Junior Boys have showed me, with amazing proficiency, that the bedroom comprises far more than an acoustic guitar and tape hiss. It's the concept I originally fell in love with, the confidences not necessarily whispered and necessarily unpublished.
Visit Junior Boys online, and pick up the fantastic So This Is Goodbye here.
Carl Wilson on Mountain Goats!
Sean Gramophone on the heat!
Oh, the writing!
I've semi-consciously stayed clear of the bedroom since, treating the word as a euphemism more than a proper descriptor. But this scares me: what if someone had described the Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye to me as a bedroom album? Because it is, it absolutely and unquestionably is, and it also happens to be one of my favorite releases this year. No, you'll never confuse this for an Oberst original, but consider the sense of space (or confinement), the confessional lyrics, and the lighting. So This Is Goodbye is the room in the coming morning, beginning at midnight and racing, fumbling, into the "First Time," admitting that "I don't really know what to do." It's sexy, and it gets sexier, but I've never heard it so candid. There's a climax, two o'clock, "In the Morning," breath sharp and shallow - an instant classic. But it gets late, and "the nights are endless things," as Jeremy Greenspan covers Sinatra in the penultimate track, "When No One Cares." Finally, coming up with the sun, "FM" washes away the night's false clarity with a persistent and perfectly revealing infusion of light. "And then one more year/ Becomes one more year/ And you'll forget me soon, I swear." I appreciate complete albums, especially when they've got closing statements as well thought-out and appropriate as this, which is less often than you'd think.
With So This Is Goodbye Junior Boys have showed me, with amazing proficiency, that the bedroom comprises far more than an acoustic guitar and tape hiss. It's the concept I originally fell in love with, the confidences not necessarily whispered and necessarily unpublished.
Visit Junior Boys online, and pick up the fantastic So This Is Goodbye here.
***
Carl Wilson on Mountain Goats!
Sean Gramophone on the heat!
Oh, the writing!
by brian at 9/26/2006 11:00:00 AM
1 Comments:
I'm not sure if I'll be able to get over how good that Junior Boys album is.
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