Junior Senior “No No No’s”
Monday, August 29, 2005
My immediate (and to most of my friends, annoyingly overzealous) appreciation for 2003’s “Move Your Feet” was due in large part to its mysterious origin. Before seeing a picture of Junior Senior (not that it would have helped), I couldn’t decide if the song was the product of a neo-soul shouter imitating a teenage Michael Jackson or a Fatboy Slim/DJ Shadow/RJD2 type who’d unearthed and reappropriated a vintage vinyl sample.
Not surprisingly, a Google search for information on Junior Senior’s new album Hey Hey My My Yo Yo issued forth a massive amount of Japanese sites. The pastiche of dance musics and ebullient naivete incorporated into its composite sound is heavily indebted to shibuya-kei. Indeed, Hey Hey’s lead single “Itch U Can’t Skratch,” with its bubbly synths and strummy electric guitar, would have placed well on a Pizzicato Five album.
“No No No‘s” (mp3), with its alternating, androgynous vocals and refrain of “I won’t fall in love” is a pleasant surprise in the later third of the record, and had me checking my iTunes to make sure I hadn’t accidentally clicked “shuffle” and ended up with an Of Montreal b-side.
Try and order the album in Japanese here.
Visit Junior Senior’s MySpace.