I had to look twice to make sure I'd put the right album on for review as the lead-off track from Another Link In The Chain, “Birds Of Prey” kicked into gear. Then I went online to see if there were two bands called The Junction. Incidentally – for the curious and for the record – there have been several bands with the word 'Junction' in their name, but there's only one 'Junction' from Brampton, Ontario and this album was recorded by them; it's all just very misleading because there is no similarity in the styles of the two albums. This is The Junction though – the band that, on their self-titled debut, revived the notion that caustic, aggressive and cathartic music could simultaneously fray nerves or soothe them depending on the listener's mood. The Junction – the same band that invoked comparisons to Mission Of Burma and Fugazi with the taut and razor-sharp riffing of songs like “Curtains!! They Call” and “Notion Of Love” as well as references to Dinosaur Jr. with their volume and surprising songcraft.
This is the same group? Yup. Would you know it by trying to compare the band's two full-length releases? Nope.
Those fans initially drawn in by The Junction's angular riffs and incredibly loud, sinewy presentation will be very literally knocked over by The Junction's sharp and sudden turn to more melodic rock dynamics. The change is complete and unavoidable; those fans that came along from the band's self-titled debut could very easily make the assertion that listening to Another Link In The Chain is metaphorically like listening to The Junction in a mirror – obviously the same band in every way, but perfectly backwards.
That altered perception of the band is apparent from note one. From the very beginning of “Birds Of Prey,” The Junction registers its new interests in verse-chorus-verse song structures, more conventional progressions through those structures and a startling facility for pumping out arresting and melodic vocal phrasings without breaking a sweat or even breathing hard; it all just rolls out with confidence and ease.
From there, the band does the smartest thing it possibly could: set to illustrating that “Birds Of Prey” wasn't just a one-off fluke by reprising the approach another nine times. That isn't to say that the songs on Another Link In The Chain sound same-y, mind you, just that where the album's predecessor built in intensity as it went, ALITC is simpler in construct; the ten tracks on it are just good pop songs that do show growth but not at all like the band did on its self-titled debut. The growth is far more organic; for example, while the first four tracks might feature singer/guitarist Brent Jackson – obviously miles from his more cathartic and emotive bent – shooting for a rock radio placement with vocals similar to Sam Roberts contrasted against music that bounces between easy-to-digest rock and Dave Gilmour-era, Pink Floyd psychedelia (see “No Road,” “My Love Was There” and “Miles In Denial”), as the record progresses both band and singer occasionally warp into moments of self-assured musicianship that goes down easy and leaves no discernible aftertaste; they're just solid rock songs that would be unremarkable if they didn't contrast against the band's debut so obviously.
As the record draws to a close with some nimble piano work in “Hymns Of Night,” listeners will find themselves comfortable and perfectly at ease with what has transpired on Another Link In The Chain. While they may have been apprehensive and the band's sonic shift initially, as the album continues on the same tack – thus proving that this more songwriter-ly direction was a plan and not an accident – it becomes very easy to respect the turn. Because there is such an enormous stylistic disparity between the band's two full-lengths as well, when they return again they'll find the field wide open to do whatever they want with no fear of their audience turning on them. In the end, Another Link In The Chain wasn't the safe record to make by any stretch of the imagination but it turns out to be a bold success.
Band:
thejunction.ca/index.html
www.myspace.com/thejunction
Album:
Another Link In The Chain is available now as a Canadian import on Amazon. Buy it here .
