Originally a duo of Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark, Junior Boys created a sound that would reconcile their influences. Years of collaboration followed and a demo was produced, but after many rejections and near-misses, they were resigned to being bedroom beat constructors. Soon after, Johnny Dark left the band to pursue other interests. Eventually KIN Records heard their demo at the end of 2002 and commissioned more work from remaining member Greenspan. Hooking up with his engineer, Matt Didemus, he began again, writing more material and pulling an album together.
The first release Birthday/Last Exit came in October 2003 — a four-track EP with a remix by Fennesz which brought them near-unanimous acclaim. The High Come Down EP followed in February 2004 with a Manitoba (now Caribou) remix and word began to spread. Their debut album, Last Exit (recorded at the end of 2003 by Greenspan and Didemus in Hamilton), was released September 21, 2004 on KIN Records. A reissue on Domino featured the Manitoba mix of Birthday, a Fennesz mix of the same track, and a new track.
Junior Boys’ most popular track, Birthday, was featured in Sander Kleinenberg’s high acclaimed mix CD This Is Everybody Too.
The duo has since embarked on a number of tours with Caribou.
As of 2006, Junior Boys have reappeared with new releases. A remix of “The Loving Sounds of Static” by Mobius Band was released on the Ghostly International Idol Tryouts 2 compilation on March 7, 2006. “Max”, a new original song, was released on the Paper Bag Records compilation See You on the Moon! on March 21, 2006. Their second full-length album, So This Is Goodbye, was released in August 2006 on Domino Records.
2007 saw the Junior Boys embarking on a North American tour, and then headed to Europe for numerous festivals, continuing into the summer. The remix EP The Dead Horse EP was released in April containing remixes of tracks from So This Is Goodbye. An iTunes exclusive live EP was also released, reminiscent of a John Peel recording, with four live tracks.
Almost a year after its initial release So This Is Goodbye was re-released as a bonus edition including the original album, and remixes from the singles and the live tracks from the iTunes session.
Begone Dull Care is the band’s third album, following the critical and commercial successes of Last Exit (2004) and So This Is Goodbye (2006). The title is a reference to a short film by the pioneering Oscar-winning Scottish-Canadian animator and electronic composer, Norman McLaren, who was a big influence on the conception and creation of this album. McLaren may not be as well-known today, but his influence has been seen by nearly anyone whose been raised on the early works of the Children’s Television Workshop. McLaren was especially fond of direct film animation (the technique of physically manipulating or painting on film frame by frame) as is the case with Begone Dull Care and stop-start animation.
There isn’t a single sound emitted that feels out of place or like an afterthought on Begone Dull Care. There is a measured restraint that’s rarely employed in modern pop music and it’s the precision and restraint in the arrangements that only serve to magnify what is there. And what is there is exceptional… from the post-industrial stomp of opener Parallel Lines to the soothing romanticism of What It’s For, which brings the album to an achingly soft close. Lead single, Hazel could well be described as Sign O The Times re-imagined as an effervescent song of romantic yearning instead of the predecessor’s dark reflection of Reagan’s America.n September 2008, Morgan Geist’s new album “Double Night Time” was released with five songs that feature Jeremy Greenspan.
> I LOVE THE USE OF COLOR IN THIS VIDEO ITS VERY RETRO TRIPPY ACID! I ALSO LOVE TO USE OF CANADAS VOGUE HOUSE OF MONROE, IM HAPPY TO SEE THE ARTFORM OF VOGUEING BEING PUSHED TO THE MAINSTREAM IN MUSIC AND DANCE. HOPEFULLY AMERICAN ARTISTS WILL CATCH ON TO HOW ELEGANT AND CULTURED VOGUEING CAN BE.