Junior Boys
Big Black Coat
CITY SLANG
7/10
Junior Boys never had to innovate; they could rest easy waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. Their prescient smothered electronic tones foretold the muted R&B pallet of the last five years. Out of the surge of ’00s popular indie electronica (think M83, Caribou, and Hot Chip), the Junior Boys occupied a comfortable throne by staying firmly put. Big Black Coat—their first album since 2011’s It’s All True—digs deeper into their obsession with Human League and Cure tunes. Opener “You Say That” surges forward with acid house hi-hats and an Underworld-esque vocal hook. The Boys turn the song’s crushing momentum into a masterful study of tension; their knack remains a playful sense of restraint. Junior Boys know how to maintain their inexplicable sense of cool—all it takes is the right amount of withholding.
