Melodic alternative rock to reverb-heavy indie folk and lyrics that paint vivid images, Melbourne band Junior Bones present their debut EP 'Late Night Luxury'.
Over four tracks, the band express themselves across a diverse sonic palette; from opener 'I'll Have The Same' that slowly uncoils around a simple guitar chord progression and singer Ryan Temby's achingly raw vocals. Then there's that electric guitar riff that kicks off the second part of the song that meanders along a river of '90s alternative, collage radio nostalgia.'Our Place' was the group's debut single release, a track that finds the band pushing their conscience side lyrically while adding a harder edge to their sound.
'Mosaic Ceiling Paints' highlights a band capable of exploring different tones and textures, the fragile opening moments making way for a bruised, rhythmically pulsing ballad of indie rock – a tune that'll harness its energy best live.
Final track 'Kilimanjaro' showcases an art-rock moment, the shoegazy melody and rhythm seemingly almost suspended in time, the slowed-down pace creating a washed-out effect as the song slowly curls to a stop.
"We really see this EP as the launch of the band – a great starting point," the group's vocalist-guitarist, Ryan Temby says.
"With another album's worth of demos written, we're looking to jump straight back into the studio this year to record songs that are personal and intimate – with a whole lot of light and shade, some hints of rock, shoegaze, folk and plenty of reverb."
Ahead of the EP's release on Friday (11 February), scenestr is thrilled to premiere 'Late Night Luxury' today. Enjoy.
"I think the untold story of this EP is the humble home studio," adds Ryan.
"The amount of thought, effort, love and passion we put into the arrangements and dynamics of these songs wouldn't have happened if at the time, we were allowed to just jump into a studio and jam them out over a few days.
"The process brought out ideas and sounds that really define who we are as a band."
Junior Bones launch the 'Late Night Luxury' EP with a matinee session at The Workers Club (Melbourne) 19 February.
'I'll Have The Same'
"'I'll Have The Same' was always an acoustic song at heart. I was really surprised how energetic and dynamic it became after the rest of the band put their stamp on it," Ryan says."Pauly's guitar almost sounds like a distorted keyboard in the verses which gives it a great percussive drive. After the arrangements came together it just seemed like the perfect opening track."
'Our Place'
"'Our Place' was originally a bit of an afterthought – I wrote it while procrastinating inbetween recording other demos," Ryan says."The music simply fell together and I didn't think much of it, but I recorded a rough version of the track anyway and sent it to John at Small Sanctuary Records who added early ideas for keys, grandiose harmonies and early '90s rock vibes – he emailed an mp3 right back entitled 'debut single'."
'Mosaic Ceiling Paints'
"I really struggled getting 'Mosaic Ceiling Paints' off the ground. After several rhythm and lyric reworks, it wasn't until I changed key and sped it up that it finally clicked into place," Ryan says."And then it was off – it ended up being the first song that we finished in the studio and it set the tone for the rest of the EP."
'Kilimanjaro'
"'Kilimanjaro' was heaps of fun to produce," Ryan says."We got a bit alternative with sounds at one stage – setting a microphone on an office chair rolling across old floorboards then running the signal through a distortion pedal with stereo delay as an outro to the guitar solo.
"Although a bit tricky to reproduce, it's one of our favourites to play live."
