#5

Junior Boys
So This Is Goodbye
(Domino)

Records this simple sneak right up on you: using nothing really more than early-Depeche Mode synths and an 808, Junior Boys made one of my favorite pop records of this year, and definitely my favorite synth-oriented release in, uh, ever. Pale faced and fey sounding, Junior Boys aren’t really something someone into Wolf Eyes would normally cop to, but a world of sound’s out there – you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to hear this. The beats and melodies are lean, but develop slowly over each song and the record, reaching the apex during “In The Morning”, So This Is Goodbye’s crown jewel. Its simple programmed key pattern and break accented with breathy beatboxing set the scene until the “aahh yrrr 2 young” coos drop and that devastating key hook breaks loose. While, like the rest of the record, it’s firmly planted in the 80’s, it’s plain to see that a melody this good is welcome in any decade.