This Vicious Cycle,
Junction 18For a debut record, recently signed junction 18 to fearless records have come up trumps. Sure, the pop punk genre is nearly too crowded to move (hey, theres going to be no cat swinging in this genre) but cream still rises to the top, and as such Junction 18 have a bright future ahead of them.
Junction 18's sound is highly reminiscent of No Motiv (especially 'and the sadness prevails'), with it must be said, slightly more edge - faster and with less of the 'merged' sound... The guitars are far more distinctive which can only be a good thing. You could be forgiven for thinking, as 'Dakota' powers up, that this would be just another run of the mill boy-sings-about-girls album. In fact, 'Dakota' is possibly the weakest on the album; but don't let it put you off, as things are bound to improve.
And they do, with June and the Ocean which, and I don't know how, actually reminds me of the sea (don't ask how, because I don't know), and Junction 18's talent starts to shine. Sweet steps, despite the soppy title is also a well structured song, both musically and lyrically - 'i'll get by without you - i'll pull it off somehow' - and manages to retain the sincerity that so many punk/pop/rock bands nowadays lack. 4th track 'Granite Street Knife Fight' takes on a less upbeat sound than it's previous 3 offerings, which is refreshing, and is an excellent song to boot, providing some much needed angst and helping to give the album some more variety. Stop-start 'Turnabout' reverts back to the style of the earlier songs, followed by the more emo-ey (tm) 'Adrift', which starts off mellow, but turns into a song with some excellent lyrics 'when you've seen it all, it reflects off the skyline midnight blue', and will surely grow on you.
Just when you were getting all reflective, 'Above the Avenue' smacks you in the face and picks you up, ready for another 4 energetic songs with 'lucky as mars' echoing a thousand schoolboy sentiments 'I think too much of consequences..', followed by the similar but still smart 'We want it all', showing again Junction 18's ability to have a song climax well but not over the top stylee.
Ending couple 'Lost in Adeline' adopts a ballad style rhythm for all you slow song people out there, but isn't quiet by any means. 'Abeyance' is a touch faster than the rest, slowing then immediately jolting back into action and is your end feel good song (provided you haven't already hit repeat). All in all, this album is good enough for a 4.5 - but that whole stars thing means I can only give it 4; if you can't deal with all these substandard pop punk bands jumping (jumping, not crawling) out of the woodwork, check this CD out, stick with it and you'll find you'll be listening to it for a long time.
nick
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