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Groovin' On Juned...

winkingtiger | Oakland, CA | 05/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Juned was the great lost band of the Seattle Grunge-era explosion. Yes, they sound a bit 'grunge'-y, but they also sound like surf or the Jefferson Airplane, what with all the strange, spiky guitar lines, mountains of reverb and mystically mixed-back vocal harmonies.



I first discovered them doing a sort of Female-Monkees sounding tune on the 'Grace Of My Heart' soundtrack ("Groovin' On You", check it out), so I wasn't prepared for their creepy, introverted surf-grunginess...but it immediately grew on me. Great vocals, the tightest rhythm section in Seattle, and that moody R.E.M.-esque murk. They really have more in common with indie bands like The Breeders than they do with let's say, Nirvana.



Standout tracks: The aggressive guitar cruncher 'Leeches', the wonderfully, dreamily sad 'Ford', the grunge-rocker 'Shred' (listen at the very beginning of 'Shred' for one of the Juned members saying [quietly] 'I'm ALWAYS f*****n' ready!' and someone else replies 'Oh, you have to do it your own special way...', hilarious!), & the insane slide-guitar driven surf of 'So White'. And all the others are great too, so there! It's certainly worth the .36 cents that a used copy is selling for on A-Z..!



Juned made one more album, 'Every Night For You', slower, sloppier, and with much weaker songcraft. I can't really recommend it unless you're as rabid a fan as I! Although there are a few good tunes (and a funny hidden track where the four Juned gals call a tele-psychic), if you want more than this, you'd be better off with the aforementioned 'Grace Of My Heart' soundtrack album.



(NOTE: I can't BELIEVE I'm the only one to have written a review of this excellent disc! So come on, Juned fans, I'm sure I haven't said all there is to say... ;oD)

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