Philadelphia Weekly

MUSIC

On the Record: Junior Boys, Bon Iver, Friendly Fires & More

By Bill Chenevert

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jun. 15, 2011

Pre Serene: Thee Oneironauts

(Home of the Rebels)

Sounds Like: Toronto indie rock sextet’s fourth LP is as cooky and quirky as they are—glitchy, airy, dreamy freaky folk that’s not a ton of fun to listen to.

Free Association: Aimless melodies and whiny half-singing gets annoying quick.

For Fans Of: Owl City, Flaming Lips, nerd sweaters, extreme whiteness.

Junior Boys

It’s All True

(Domino)

Sounds Like: The Canadian duo’s fourth is a bummer—electro pop that’s had all the joy sucked out, then pounded into ’80s-heavy corny (mirrored) bedroom grooves.

Free Association: So This Is Goodbye was so kickass. What went horribly wrong?

For Fans Of: Scitti Politti x New Order, Pet Shop Boys, softcore porn, vegan dessert.

Bon Iver

(Jagjaguwar)

Sounds Like: The much-anticipated follow-up to his huge debut has some peaks and valleys, with loads of help in instrumentation, but after five spins I can’t get into it.

Free Association: Some songs achieve Pure Moods cheesiness (that horrible sax!).

For Fans Of: Iron & Wine, Bonnie P. Billy x Andrew Bird, Enya/Yanni, helium.

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