Last Exit
Let's get the inevitable comparison out of the way: like thePostal Service, the Junior Boys craft a wan indie electro-pop variation on blue-eyed soul. But in contrast to Ben Gibbard's romantic yearning, Junior Boys singer Jeremy Greenspan's voice emerges from the depths of a post-traumatic chill, emanating a disappointment too laconic to accurately be called sadness. "High Come Down" could beDarryl Hallproduced byTimbaland, but only in an alternate universe where neither man was interested in selling records or monopolizing your attention--the beats shuffle of their own accord rather than skittering playfully, and Greenspan sings as though there's a sleeping baby in the next room. The group's new-wave influences are similarly easy to spot, yet they appear only as silhouettes, drained of the original artists' egotism. Over time, the Junior Boys' teasing reserve proves itself as engaging as most other artists' forceful intensity. --Keith Harris