Junip: Fields

    I've been hearing a song, "Without You", by Junip for a while on both my local radio stations, 90.5 WBER "The Only Station that Matters" and 98.7 WITR "The Pulse of Music", and because I've liked it I just had to find out what group it was and write about them. Junip, so I've discovered, is a Swedish trio comprised of soloist José González and two of his friends, Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn. Their first release was in 2005, Black Fields EP, which included a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Yoad". José's solo work then became quite substantial and they did not release another album until May 28, 2010, another EP, Rope & Summit. They did, however, follow that free-on-their-website four track release with their first full length LP, Fields, in September of 2010. A deluxe box version has since been released that includes both EPs too. I wish that they had not taken a pretty decent album cover and put the black peeling stamp on it, because it reminds me of a cheap album that has reached the used/discount bin at FYI.
    Fields has been received with a lot of critical acclaim. The NY Daily news made it their #1 album of 2010, Rollings Stone praised it with #41/50 single for "In Every Direction" and #1 album of 2010 for reviewer Will Hermies, and Randall Roberts of LA Times gave it his #9 slot for 2010. It also made NPR's Listener's Top Album's and Vancouver Weekly's Best of 2010.
    Junip's music is very much about finding their groove and sticking with it. Each song has its own ostinato of rhythm guitar, and builds slowly but carefully, with well constructed intention. It is almost like trance music (just not electronic), which may find yourself unconsciously invigorated into tapping along to the music without knowing it. I guess it is sort of numbing after listening to the whole album too. Perhaps that is why they consider this healing & easy listening, though really they are more an indie combination of folk and jam band, or what I call groove (because jam band makes me think of Phish or DMB). Each song seems to possess a particular subtle flavor to it, like a smoother version of a different genre all together. "Off Point" could be almost punk or an upbeat folk, "Don't Let It Pass" is reminiscent of a 60s-70s pop ballade, and others I could picture as 60s-70s rock songs or folk jigs too (Honestly, my pre 2000s listening is less than par, so I may be off on those decades).
    For me, it is not the groove that necessarily attracts me to their music, it is everything that enhances the formula and adds so much atmosphere and life. It is also, I must admit, reaching the height of and basking in the immersive nature of that groove. It is interesting that, and another review noted this as I did as well, that some songs sound almost distorted to the point of sounding like they were recorded with the mic levels too high or something. But, it appears to be purposeful, as it adds a tense almost grungy feeling that coincides with the deep haunting bass sounds. Another side note, I never really noticed this level of distortion until I heard the album on a better sounds system than the car radio, and because I was not used to hearing it so much, it made me question the haze. As I listen more, though, I appreciate the edge it gives the sustained chordal harmony that prevails.
    Check out the media section of Junip's website here, where you can explore their "track by track" series, which delves in to every song on Fields, about their creation process and influences behind. Also, enjoy the track "Always" in the MixPod player or check out more on their MySpace here.