Cardiff trio Junior prepare to open the doors and welcome us into their own little world with concept mini-album JuniorLand – a land of melodic riffs, pop-punk hooks and a shedload of fun.
Wait, has Tom DeLonge got a new side project he never told us about? Have blink-182 just released a collection of unheard rarities? Oh, no, that’s just Junior! Album opener ‘A House That’s Not Quite Home’ is something straight out of the blink-182 back catalogue, with the whiney all-American vocals of Tom and the deeper, more mature voice of Mark almost mirrored in this song. It’s darker, like something from the self-titled era, as opposed to the young, angsty ‘If I Had the Time I’d Tell You I’m Not Sorry’ which is a total Dude Ranch phase; it’s all about thrashing out the music that you love with your mates, and sticking your middle finger up to the rest of the world.
But enough of the blink-182 comparisons; there’s much more Junior than that. ‘That Pretty Dress’ is possibly one of the most fun pop-punk songs of the year, and that’s saying something considering the plethora of pop-punk hurled our way in 2015. It’s light-hearted and poppy with a playful sound and a happy beat that gives the pop-punk flavour without being too aggressive about it. The amusing play-off between the guitar riffs and basslines are the some of the most enjoyable moments of music we’ve heard in quite some time! Nothing feels forced – we hear that with the beautifully simplistic ‘Lakeside’ – and yet Junior manage to make some seriously punchy pop-punk.
As ‘Epilogue (We Hope You Enjoyed Your Stay)’ rounds off the album in full circle, we can only say one thing – we definitely enjoyed our stay, and we can’t wait to come back again!
