August 30th, 2005 3:22pm
It’s Hard To Find A Pearl In The Heart Of...
It’s Hard To Find A Pearl In The Heart Of A Girl
Junior Senior “Take My Time” - Much of the new Junior Senior record is exactly what you might expect from them, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but sorta feels that way when it’s contrasted with this track.. It’s not exactly worlds apart from what they normally do, but the over the top tweeness is dialed down considerably, they pass the mic to an unknown woman (I have no liner notes, sorry) and the result is something like Off The Wall-era Michael Jackson with vocals by Kate Pierson from the B52s. (Edit: It actually is Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson from the B52s!) Excellent stuff, and not nearly as selfconciously joycore as the rest of the songs from the album. (Click here to pre-order it from HMV Japan.)
Blood on the Wall “Mary Susan” - I worry sometimes that my response to faux-Kim Deal/Krist Novaselic basslines like the one in this song is strictly Pavlovian, and I’m just conditioned from my youth to immediately love most anything that sounds like it. I know this isn’t totally true, but it’s amazing how much this brand new song can make me feel like I’m back in 1994, drawing pictures in my bedroom and rewinding songs on tape over and over again. I knew that this song would eventually end up here from back when I saw Blood on the Wall play it live when they opened for the Fiery Furnaces back in the spring - it was just that potent and immediate for me. I guess there’s always been a void in my life waiting to be filled by a song that sounds almost exactly like Doolittle-era Pixies being performed by Mudhoney. (Click here to buy it from Smartpunk.)
8/30/05 6:34 pm
Novoselic
8/30/05 6:38 pm
Thanks for the Junior Senior hook up…again. Itch U Can’t Scratch was how I found your site initially. Any word on a US release date?
8/30/05 6:51 pm
i *almost* posted “take your time” today. i’m a little disappointed that most of the 60’s pop touches that made ‘d-d-don’t stop the beat’ so great are little on display on ‘hey hey.’
and is it just me, or does junior seem to dominate this record?
8/30/05 8:01 pm
I think the unknown woman/women might be Le Tigre?
8/30/05 8:11 pm
junior domination fo sho, which is a little disappointing for some reason. the new disc also seems more rooted in 70’s music - psychpop, disco & soul (half the album, i’d say) - than the more funk/kitchen sink approach from the first cd. i think the hey hey actually flow really well, and that the songs groove more smoothly as a whole than the actual individual songs IMO. whatever, it’s fun.
posted ilm (w.o.s.b.) yesterday, for those who are interested…
8/30/05 9:43 pm
Incredible track! Thanks!
8/30/05 10:21 pm
It’s a great new album–I posted “No No No’s,” to much less acclaim, a few days ago. The “Off the Wall” comparison is very appropriate, and I hear lots of Japanese “shibuya-kei” style (Pizzicato Five, Fantastic Plastic Machine).
8/30/05 11:49 pm
The Junior Senior song is cute, just as most of their songs are … but they slip into cliché with the gear changes (two of ‘em!) the end.
http://www.gearchange.org/
8/31/05 6:52 pm
It’s Junior, Kate Pierson & Cindy Wilson of the B-52’s singing together. Le Tigre and 60’s motown girl group the Velvelettes are also heavily featured on the album.
9/2/05 4:00 am
I’ll repeat the question an earlier comment raised. Is the new Junior Senior album going to be released in America? To import it, the best price Amazon will give me is $35.00. (Ouch)
9/2/05 4:23 am
I’m sure that it will eventually be released in the US, or at least on the itunes music store or something like that.
9/5/05 3:27 pm
hands up: who else received e-mail from crunchy frog?
9/7/05 11:27 pm
Just figured it out . . . Blood on the wall sounds like Toadies. Remember that song “Tyler?” It’s uncanny.