Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 07/12/2005
On their second album,
Junior Varsity sound something like
the Police might have had they been a post-1980s heartland American
rock band. They're more inclined to crunchy guitars than
the Police were, but the resemblance is there in the strident declarative phrasing of the high lead singing, the frequent tempo changes, and the perky vocal harmonies. Though indebted to alternative
guitar rock, they have a slightly different texture than the usual such band owing to the inclusion of a synth player in the mix. Lyrically the songs don't go anywhere too specific, aside from conveying the sense of fellows trying to sort out the world and themselves with subdued bewilderment. It's an unmemorable record that's not so much
alternative rock (though it might get classified as such) as a reflection of the degree to which
alternative rock approaches were becoming mainstream at the time of this 2005 release.
~Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide