CUT YOUR KEY ALBUM REVIEW by BUCKETFULL OF BRAINS MAGAZINE...

 

Remember those early 70's TV commercials which were awash in technicolor, where flora and fauna gently undulated in the background? Well, Cut Your Key, the debut album by these Leicester lads, is the aural equivalent of that, as every song is bursting with kaleidoscopic goodness!

Mixing equal parts baroque, psychedelic, and sunshine pop sensibilities, but with a darker than usual undercurrent (moonshine pop?), songwriter Joe Wiltshire will tantalize your neurons on every turn,marrying a gentleness with a sort of of furtive power, not unlike The Fantastic Something on steroids.

Standout cuts include the Left Banke influenced 'Gordie Can't Swim', the delightful, fairytale like 'Callooh Callay!' and a couple of tunes 'Out My Pocket' and 'Song That Fades Away' which are very much the British equivalent of 60's pych pop legends Sagittarius and The Millennium. Add the down-hominess of 'Already Home' and 'So the Feeling Looms' and The Junipers have an album that will simultaneously give you chills and make you feel warm all over.

CUT YOUR KEY REVIEW on AMERICANA UK...

The Junipers "Cut Your Key" (San Remo Records, 2008

Leicester studio prodigies summon some cloud-dappled sunshine. Although now bolstered by a full band for a forthcoming live onslaught, Leicester’s The Junipers are a duo of home-studio geniuses with a tellingly impressive record collection and if there’s any justice, a rather bright future.

Included within the myriad of sounds they cram onto this concisely crafted album there are definite nods to pastoral folk (‘Fly the Yellow Flag’), country-edged pop (Already Home’), summery psychedelia, and knowingly retro (mainly 60s and Beatle-esque) pop aesthetics (‘Song That Fades Away’, ‘Gordie Can’t Swim’). Featuring a cornucopia of instruments throughout their many brief, sharp, pop journeys, the Junipers have a sound that is naturally textured, warm and mostly quite captivating.

The intriguing and genuinely sad opening song ‘Gordie Can’t Swim’ is a truly superb early highlight, sketching out the troubled life and untimely death of a friend, held up by a fine and simple melody which naturally weaves into lilting ghosts of harmony and a suitably uncertain, evocative end. Complimented by strings, echoes and a beautiful sense of space, it’s so completely perfect in its execution, the ‘repeat’ button on your CD player may well be needed numerous times at this point. Vocally and melodically, the Elliot Smith folk-inflections give proceedings a familiar air, and while its true that sometimes, as with much folk-inspired musings, the ‘twee-o-meter’ can reach an all too high scoring (‘Sheena’ being the prime offender), by cramming 15 tracks into a brief 36 minutes nothing on here truly outstays its welcome.‘Cut Your Key’ably displays two fervently fertile and inspired imaginations with a world of wonderful sound at their disposal. 

Date review added: Thursday, September 11, 2008

Reviewer: Ian Fildes

Reviewers Rating: 7/10

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