EP Review: Junebug - The Singles

In the space of 2 months I have gone from having never heard of Junebug in my life to them now being firm blog favourites. They released the single ‘TR’ to great reviews (including from this parish) and shortly after played the biggest gig of their career to date at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut last month which got a great reaction all over social media. And to top it all off in the midst of all of that they released a brand new EP. 

Basically they have been on a bit of a roll.

In recent weeks the band have undergone a slight evolution with bassist Matthew MacDonald leaving the band to go and explore pastures new in Canada, but they wasted no time in finding a replacement with David Devereux joining the Junebug ranks. However it was MacDonald who played bass on all of the tracks on this EP so he must receive the credit.

The Singles is a 15 minute demonstration of why I rate this band so highly. If you have heard any of the band’s music before then this record will not be anything drastically new to you but its Junebug doing what they do best.

‘TR’ was the first song that I ever heard from the band and it is this track that gets the EP off to a rock-tinged start. The intro could easily be something from Nirvana, it’s got that sort of grungy feel, but that soon fades away as the vocal from Alli Martin start to glide over the top of a neat guitar led melody. A good solid chorus, a nice shift up in tempo and short guitar solo follow as the track runs along impressively to its conclusion. I loved it when I first heard it and my feelings haven’t changed and if you get the chance to check out the video I urge you to do so. All I’ll say is that isn’t not what you would expect.

The energy levels drop down a couple of notches as the sun kissed melody of ‘Lines’ glides beautifully into view. The band seem to have a real knack for writing good melodies and that coupled with Martin’s simple and equally melodic vocal style means that their music is very easy listening. There’s nothing too challenging making it very easy to get into. The track ends with a quicker section which adds a nice bit of variation to this summery effort.

‘You And I’ sees the band return to more rockier territory in a brilliantly catchy manor. There are hints of ‘TR’ as the track clips along at quite a quick pace, the addition of a gravely guitar section just past the halfway mark works really well in contrast to the light and breezy delivery from Martin. Clocking in at less than 3 minutes this is definitely one to file under short and sweet.

Final track ‘Hoops’ has a real ‘happy go lucky’ feel about it. I hope that makes some sort of sense! It’s just light and really easy on the ears even as just an instrumental track it’s the sort of thing that would make you believe that everything is going to be alright. It’s lovely endearing stuff, a brilliant way to round the EP off.

The Singles shows a band at the top of their game. The record ticks all of the boxes, great melodies, beautiful vocals and plenty of chances to sing and hum along. If you like your rock music on a softer and at times more acoustic tip then this without question is the record for you.