and suddenly i'm a reviewer...

in the interest of full disclosure i should tell you all that i consider jeff a good friend. i am so happy for him and he deserves years of rock stardom because he's such a genuine and hardworking guy.

now to rip apart the album he put his heart and soul into:

leaving juneau
get out of the weather
independently released, november 2005
produced and recorded by randor lin
mixed by chris sturwuld.

stuck out in the middle of the prairies edmonton has always been a musical town. perhaps it's due to the fact that it's too fucking cold to do anything besides sit in your warm bedroom and play guitar. resulting from all this cold weather guitar hibernating is a million shitty bands and a million more jaded scenesters. leaving juneau falls into neither of these catagories. made up of three of the nicest guys and born out of the ashes of two fashioncore/screamo bands (both guitartist/songwriter jeff (archibald) and drummer nick bryant played in sierra and bassist adam dingle played in the recently disbanned -stillframe-) leaving juneau seeks to find that niche indie rock spot in a sea of dancy-pants 'indietronic' casio loving hipsters.

composed entirely by archibald 'get out of the weather' is generally a strong record. the albums two greatest strengths are it's lyrics and production quality. the latter strikes the perfect balance between polished pop songs and underproduced indie rock. tape hiss, while a required element for living, is used sparingly and therefore convincingly and it's great to hear that producer randor lin isn't afraid of pop music. archibald is obviously a strong writer unafraid to be honest his feelings and about putting them on paper. he understand music's ability to be cathartic without falling into the catagory of whiney, self-indulgent, emo princess.

this album suffers, however, not for lack of lack of talent but for lack of experience. because the majority of these songs were composed by archibald for leaving juneau the solo project the addition of drums and bass appear, at times, haphazard and under-composed. bryant is strong drummer and a welcome addition to most songs but rarely steps away from that bright eyes influenced snare heavy drum sound. i also feel like the bass is under-used and under-represented in the mix. archibald's voice also feels the weight of inexperience. while almost always singing in key, the range is small and the articulation isn't always there. i also longed to hear more piano. it would be a nice contrast to the often strained snare drum sound.

guests on this album include matthieu damer playing cello and heathyr black adding her vocals to 'new', the opening track. I WANT MORE CELLO! i love the cello. while strings have become the ultimate in indie rock cliche they are an amazing addition to this album and really augment the intensity and emotional honesty of archibald's lyrics. black, on the other hand, over-powers archibald's singing. the quality and tone of her voice make an otherwise beautiful (and one of my favourites) song sound awkward. perhaps the addition of another male voice would have offered just as many dynamic shifts as the female voice.

i am forever in love with the moments when all three boys unabashedly embrace their pop roots and make us dance and sing aloud with equal ferocity. "streets" and "these walls have eyes" are specific example of this indie pop love! after seeing leaving juneau live many times it's these songs that they really blossom on as a band and that translates well when recorded. these are the songs where you know they were having fun in the studio, in rehearsal and every time they play them. you know they had fun because shit, you're having fun as you listen to them!

people love to toss around the dreaded 'emo' word when refering to this band. perhaps it's their backgrounds or the fact that as a song-writer archibald is unafraid to tell you how he's feeling. the absolute highlights of this album are the moments when we're let into archibald's world. it's not a world of falling black stars, bleeding hearts, or girl's jeans; it's emotionally honest. sit down with 'new', 'this one is for me' or 'speak without pause' and you'll be treated to something well beyond a broken-hearted treatise. you'll be told secrets and you'll listen, rapt, because you know they're true.

despite it's flaws this album is a beautiful honest piece of work and the love that went into it's production is evident in every chord change. this is an album for cold wintery days spent driving along highways and ever-expanding freeways. it's for sunday afternoons with your lover and with yourself. it's for anyone who's ever had their heartbroken or swam in cold water. it's worth your time to give this album a listen. so do it. now. c'mon. go get it.

to get your hands on it drop jeff a line at jeffreyarchibald@yahoo.ca or head out to your favourite whyte ave indie record store (blackbyrd, southside sound, megatunes). support your local musicians! they deserve it!

xo michelle.