The Juliets

It would be easy to simply dismiss The Juliets as just another pop band with a
cello and a couple of violins. The cello does give them the right to claim the "chamber pop" tag, but the Juliets aren't some sort of ELO throwback, despite the catchy tunes and the occasionally-syrupy strings. There's an undercurrent of bitter irony, maybe even violence, to this album that isn't easy to discern with just a cursory listen. You'll want to pay some attention to this one.

The first track, "Sweetheart," is basically an image cut, and hard not to like. The same goes for the somewhat twee-sounding "This Just In," a nice love song and one of the album's bouncier numbers.

The highlight of the album, though, is "Sunday Song," an homage to Tin Pan Alley with short, jarring bursts of screamfest punctuating Vienna-boys-choir call-and-response choruses. The effect is ever-so-slightly demented, and the rest of the song sets it up almost perfectly. It's the sort of song you remember easily, even though the rest of the album might not have fully grown on you yet.

"Rimbaud and Verlaine" is a neat capturing of a classic love-hate relationship, complete with a hilarious (and quite vulgar) ending. That track, along with the stomping "Evolved Into" and the waltzy "Like a Parade," keep the quality level up until to the very end - at which point the overly-twee "Drive You Home" is the only letdown, probably the one non-essential track on the whole record. But if you've listened to the whole thing, you'll probably be too impressed to care much about that.




As of Dec. 1st, 2010, all tracks on The Juliets can be downloaded individually for free (or else name your price) if you're willing to give The Juliets a working e-mail address.

Points of reference: The Auteurs, Blur, The Dears, Delgados, The Kinks, Pernice Brothers