CUT YOUR KEY ALBUM REVIEW by CHRIS ROBERTS in UNCUT MAGAZINE...

 

West Coast Pop from the East Midlands. A wash of sunshine-soaked  California sounds from, er, Leicester, this debut album was lost due to a computer failure a year ago and re-recorded from scratch by songwriter Joe Wiltshire and vocalist Marc Johnston. It acquires an accumulative effect of not-trying-to-hard charm. As the chord changes eke out nostalgia and optimism to equal degrees, highlights emerge - "Out My Pocket", "Song That Fades Away" - and Side Two of Abbey Road is happily evoked.

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ALBUM REVIEW OF "CUT YOUR KEY" in ROCK N REEL MAGAZINE...

 

In a parallel universe The Junipers were born on the West Coast of America in the late 1960s and not in present day Leicester. The outfit, which is essentially songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Wiltshire and vocalist Marc Johnston, nonetheless do a convincing job of re-creating the era with loving attention.

Debut album Cut Your Key is full of twelve string guitars, a random collection of antique instruments and plangent melodies.

The release's fifteen tracks are a lightly psychedelic cocktail of The Beatles 'Dear Prudence' by way of Big Star's 'Thirteen'.

The lovelorn vocals on 'Out My Pocket' and the blissed out pop of 'Sunnydown Ave' perfectly soundtrack a long Summer holiday filled with unrequited lust and lemonade floaters, while the title track 'Sheena' encapsulate a beach party hosted by Simon and Garfunkel and Brian Wilson.

In common with The Ruby Suns, this authentic sound is undercut by moments of humorous whimsy, such as ramshackle instrumental 'Little May Rose' and the self explanatory 'Wobbly Interlude'. It's such intervals that ensure Cut Your Key is peppered with quiet charm, despite it's unashamed nostalgia.

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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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.

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