Proving themselves more than a group of slouches, Toronto's Junior Battles have stepped up their game by delivering a full-length follow-up to 2011's Idle Ages. Titled Rally, the 11-song set officially hit the ice today (May 27) through Paper + Plastick, and you can celebrate with the band and Exclaim! by giving the album a stream down below.
A press release explains that it was the group's intention to make Rally an EP, but Junior Battles apparently had more music in them than they had originally anticipated, with the sessions being described as the "accidental result of enjoying hanging out with your friends and realizing you still have a lot you want to say."
Recorded by Steve Rizun at Toronto's Drive Studios, the set starts off with the sports-themed half-drone, half-feelgood hockey song "(You Will Score the Winning) Goal," but the band crank the amps properly for the almost Constantines-styled rock of "Rafts." Spindly licks, off-kilter beats and multi-part harmonies mark the sad-sack, slacker pop-punk of Seinfeld-referencing "Believe It or Not, George Isn't at Home," while the band stick it to Girl Talk and the good people at Bauer while mixing an acoustic guitar shuffle, Thin Lizzy-style twin solos and a speedy beat on "Assholes on Rollerblades."
You can sample the melodic punk LP down below.
A press release explains that it was the group's intention to make Rally an EP, but Junior Battles apparently had more music in them than they had originally anticipated, with the sessions being described as the "accidental result of enjoying hanging out with your friends and realizing you still have a lot you want to say."
Recorded by Steve Rizun at Toronto's Drive Studios, the set starts off with the sports-themed half-drone, half-feelgood hockey song "(You Will Score the Winning) Goal," but the band crank the amps properly for the almost Constantines-styled rock of "Rafts." Spindly licks, off-kilter beats and multi-part harmonies mark the sad-sack, slacker pop-punk of Seinfeld-referencing "Believe It or Not, George Isn't at Home," while the band stick it to Girl Talk and the good people at Bauer while mixing an acoustic guitar shuffle, Thin Lizzy-style twin solos and a speedy beat on "Assholes on Rollerblades."
You can sample the melodic punk LP down below.