There are very few album covers around nowadays that are adorned with an invitation. The Juliets (facebook/twitter) make sure to set out their stall from the off with ‘stay as long as you like’, because even before the first song on Perfect Season is finished, it’s clear that the listener is faced with an album so enjoyable that they’ll be ‘staying’ for quite a while.
The Michigan band’s new album is their second, and I can’t imagine there are very many people out there who will fail to be charmed by their classical-tinged, orchestral pop sound. Loon and Heart in Heart open proceedings with a dramatic flair that is all their own, chock-full of hooks and insistent melodies but never once becoming too busy or convoluted. Releasing an album full of songs like that, this late in the year, can only be called something of a masterstroke, because they will help to ward off the winter for a while longer, and I’m sure we can all appreciate that.
All twelve songs on Perfect Season are musically accomplished, something brought into contrast by frontman Jeremy Freer’s easy-going lyrical style. All the elements present on the album – soaring and swooping strings, an extremely tight rhythm section, and, every now and then, some tinkling piano (as showcased on Hey Stars and Only You) – gel with each other to great effect.
The classical overtones evident on Perfect Season become more prominent on the second half of the album, with the piano-led instrumental The Lost Memory sounding it could have been plucked straight from the 19th century, such is the Romantic-era feel that it radiates. It stands out on the album, not because it manages to stick out like a sore thumb, but because it’s an unquestionably beautiful listen, and one of the finest things I’ve heard all year.
Not many bands would dare to place a piece like that right next to a pure pop song the likes of It’s Simple, but the two work extremely well together. I would in fact go as far to say that, on their own, the pair manage to sum up Perfect Season better than I ever could: the album is pleasingly diverse (you wouldn’t think Why Should I? could fit into a record like this, but it reveals itself as one of the record’s highlights over time), and is one of the most enjoyable I’ve heard in quite some time. This band know exactly what they want to be, and are displaying themselves in a manner that is audacious and extremely refreshing.
[BUY]The Juliets – Perfect Season
Loon
Heart In Heart by The 405
A Perfect Season by The 405
(Thanks to The 405 for the streams)