REVIEW and FEATURE in SHINDIG MAGAZINE...

As most readers of Shindig know, there are several current bands who have attempted to bring that classic 60s soft pop sound into the new millennium.. and failed. There's always something not quite right, whether it's the timbre of the vocals, the production values, the melodic structures, or a combination thereof. Well, The Junipers, have managed to perfect their wonderfully shimmering, Curt Boettcher-esque folk-pop sound without even consciously trying to emulate it. Says Juniper Joe Wiltshire, "it's the era that we all listen to most, so it just falls naturally together. Even when we're recording & adding effects, it's what we know so it's what we do. We've never stopped and said, 'that doesn't sound 60s or 70s enough'. We just play it & it sounds like it does." 

The Junipers in 2012

The band formed in Leicester around 2004, and recorded demos at home. "We started passing the recordings around town & got some good feedback so we started rehearsing as a band to take the songs out on the road", says Wiltshire. Several of these demos ultimately were re-recorded for their first full length album, Cut Your Key, which was released in 2008 and garnered several fine reviews. Shindig! Was so enamored of these recordings that we included "Gordie Can't Swim" on our hand-picked compilation, It's a Happening Volume One. 

Their wonderful new album, Paint the Ground, retains a similar ethos as Cut Your Key, while taking it to the next level. "During the recording of the new stuff we got well into Space Opera and a lot of the moodier 70s sounds like America & Danny Kirwan", explains Wiltshire, and tunes like Dandelion Man & In My Reverie certainly reflect this. The Junipers have decided to eschew the usual label route & release Paint the Ground themselves - the album is available HERE!