OLD INTERVIEW with ELIZABETH KLISIEWICZ

 

Leicester, UK group The Junipers might just be the best psych pop group you've never heard. In fact, if like me you're a sucker for exquisitely rendered orchestral pop with a soft psych, folk edge, you're bound to fall hard for their exquisite confections.

Going back to the start, main songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Wiltshire explains he set the group in motion in the usual fashion. Hearing music that inspired him, he remembers, "The Junipers started after I heard the first Emitt Rhodes album. Hearing that, I thought I'd go and get my own recording gear and make my own Emitt Rhodes album. I didn't have the confidence to do it all on myself and I had to get my mate Marc Johnston who lived down the road a few doors away who was into The Beatles and stuff to sing on it. He was the cocky confident one so that worked."

Like many such talented musicians, the band toiled away in relative obscurity, releasing three fine albums. The first dropped in 2008 Cut Your Key and two gorgeous records with singer Robyn Gibson followed. The first with Robyn was 2012's incandescent Paint the Ground, and the best of all, the other is quite possibly 2016's finest record, Red Bouquet Fair. Yet as far as critical acclaim back home goes, Wiltshire opines, "It's been received as well as we'd hoped it would for a small, independent , little-known band". Despite this wry response, eight years ago, the first Junipers album had received raves from from music critics and radio support from the BBC. When asked if they thought they were on the verge of breaking big Wiltshire avers, "When you're in a band and you start getting told you're going to be on the radio, you think, 'That's it, we've done it!' But then we came back down to Earth."

Still Red Bouquet Fair has done relatively well. Explains Gibson, "The albums are quite limited releases, so selling out, for Paint the Ground was pleasingly quick. Red Bouquet Fair has nearly all gone on vinyl too. We think Sugarbush Records are planning another coloured re-press already." And when asked about the long hiatus between their first two LP's, Gibson shrugs, "There's no rush. That's how long it takes us to get an album made. We record songs very gradually, but only in short two or three hour sessions, once or twice a week. I'd be happy to do it everyday, but we do all work and have families and so forth, so we just have to grab the time we can."

Such care taken is obvious when you hear classic tracks such as "Dandelion Man" with it's Love - meets - The Zombies melodic structure. When asked about the influences, the affable gents are all over the map, ranging from The Beach Boys to XTC and The Byrds. No matter the source, it's clear that they've been sipping from some prodigious creative springs, all to treat fans to a beautifully cultivated musical garden. It may take a while, but there will likely be more.

The Junipers - Dandelion Man

OLD CUT YOUR KEY ALBUM REVIEW from POWER POPAHOLIC

 

The Junipers "Cut Your Key"

 November 14, 2008  powerpopaholic  Highly Recommended by Powerpopaholic, Top Ten of 2008 Candidate

The Junipers are songwriter Joe Wiltshire and vocalist Marc Johnston who, together with a group of friends in Leicester, make upbeat, chiming pitch perfect baroque and psychedelic pop with echoes of early Bee Gees, The Curiosity Shop and The Zombies. If you are looking for big loud electric guitar riffs, they are not here, but everything else is. Especially that McCartney baseline driven song structure. “Gordie Can’t Swim” opens with a Beatles meets Elephant Six collective retro sound, full of hooks that stick and harmonies that float along the melody. This sets the tone for the album, and despite a few slow instrumental breaks – it’s brilliant in every way. “Fly The Yellow Kite” is a shimmering pop confection that resembles a Wondermints composition. “Already Home” uses a Monkees-like country vibe with those impressive basslines and harmonies to great effect here and it’s a awesome pop song. Using a collection of instruments from of sitars, mellatrons, organs, kazoos, piano, strings, fuzz guitar will have fans of sunshine dappled psyche pop doing backflips. “Out of My Pocket” is adds a dash of prog organ to an acoustic guitar melody and, and “Sheena” is a very Wackers-like folk pop gem. Another standout is the Genesis-Klaatu beauty called “Song That Fades Away” with a sweet harpsichord solo in the middle. Other straight pop songs here “Mortimer” and “Sunnydown Avenue” resemble The Hudson Brothers in sound and spirit. The albums quieter moments concentrates on piano and gentle folk guitar similar to Elliot Smith.  If you don’t enjoy the retro-psyche pop genre then you should pass on this, however fans of Andrew Sandoval, The Pillbugs, and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” will gobble this one up. There are so many layers of impressive instrumentation and arrangements here I’m letting this one into the top ten of 2008. Again, no filler on this impressive debut, and I’ve added two tracks to the Lala player on the right for you to hear.

Buy Cut Your Key Here!

Read the Full Review Here!