Critic's Review
Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
Last Exit was preceded by two 12" releases that were strategically placed in the hands of critics/bloggers who were likely to be open to Junior Boys' sound -- a mishmash incorporating parts from numerous styles and countless artists while being evasive enough to prevent dismissive accusations of plagiarism. The slippery tendencies left the releases open to several elaborate rounds of "spot the influence" on the part of the writers, all of whom were successful to some extent. Call the group bedroom dance-pop, a boy band conceived by The Wire, sophisti-pop as produced by Germany's Timbaland analogue -- whatever. The group's ability to synthesize so many elements with such subtlety really isn't their greatest asset; it's that their music can be enjoyed with or without all of the analysis and context, whether you're tucked inside a snowbound outpost or winding your way through some vast metropolis during nighttime. Several Last Exit highlights come from the teaser releases. "High Come Down," "Birthday," and "Last Exit" run on sparse skitter-beats, elliptical keyboard prickles, and endearingly vulnerable vocals, and they're all coated in a compound of arctic frost and stardust. "Under the Sun," however, is a guitar-driven detour into shadowy atmospherics, trailed shortly thereafter by new song "Teach Me How to Fight" - the group at their prettiest and most touching thus far. The difference between the two songs illustrates the group's second greatest asset - their ability to be alluringly aloof, only to bring you to your knees with something wholly heartrending. If you like your pop a little left of center and found the Postal Service to be too cute and syrupy, your fix is here. And, just as a point of order, Junior Boys' use of synthesizers and drum machines -- unlike a lot of groups and producers these days -- is a lot more contemporary than past-obsessed. [The Domino version, distributed in the U.S., adds a second disc containing the non-album cuts from the singles.]
Critic Blurbs
"The whole album could be summed up in one word: subtle."
- Bishop | Feb 11, 2005
"Junior Boys makes hushed, blippy dance music with a contemporary sensibility, as though Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark had been continuously recording since 1980."
- Noel Murray | Jan 5, 2005
"Influenced by ‘80s synth and pop, electro and French acts like Air, this confessional, lovelorn album offers up a truly theatrical and imaginative electronic soundscape..."
- Kim Taylor | Sep 17, 2004
"Last Exit is a monumental debut (following the unanimous acclaim of the trio’s first two EP’s) on par with It’s My Life or Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret."
- Eric Greenwood | Jul 21, 2004
The beats are laid back but yet chaotic enough for your interest to be more than just casually peaked.
- Jake Haselman | Jul 19, 2004
Last Exit is noteworthy for taking on a sound that's easy to screw up (emoting over synthetic beats) and actually making it work.
- Laurence Station | Jul 13, 2004
In fact, each of this record's 10 deceptively simple and very approachable tracks carry the distinct fingerprints of lead songwriter and singer Jeremy Greenspan, who manages to fold elements of nearly a quarter-century of forward-looking pop into a distinct sound without sounding either conceptual or trading on contradictions or the smoke-and-mirrors of attention-grabbing eclecticism.
- Scott Plagenhoef | Jun 16, 2004
When they're on, it's like everything you liked about 80s synthpop updated for the new century and even when they're off it's still quite passable.
Jun 11, 2004
