The Junction: City Nights Review

By David Orozco
Music Journalist

Artist: The Junction
Album: City Nights
Release Date: May 15, 2017
Label: Self Released

The Junction is an indie rock band formed in Brampton, Ontario, Canada in the year 2000. Originally signed to Universal Music, the band split from the label in 2006 and have been releasing music through their own independent label since then. What I most appreciate about this band is their will to reinvent their own style in each album they produce. As I listened to their discography, I found myself very impressed at their evolution from album to album. Their 2009 album, Another Link in the Chain, has a much more straight-forward, early 2000’s take on an indie rock band sound. I felt it was a very fun project to listen to compared to their 2012 release Grievances, which was a more seriously toned and deeper album. With tracks like “Loneliness”, “Disposition“, and “Nightmares“, this album portrayed the band as a much more raw and aggressive styled indie band. Fast forward to 2017, and they have renovated their sound once again.

City Nights has a consistent psychedelic/ grooviness to it that just makes you want to dance. The songs are also slower paced and more laid back than the band’s previously released music. The spaciness of the first track, “Rock Bottom“, does well at setting the tone of the rest of the album. If you were a fan of their previous work, this is the point where you realize you are in for something really new from The Junction. This album has them utilizing the synthesizer more heavily than any of their other previous releases. It is a kind of change where maybe you like it or maybe you hate it, depending on what you expect to hear from this band. I personally love hearing bands evolve their sound and always try to create something new for themselves.

If you are looking for an album to just throw on and kick back to you need not look any further than City Nights. The Junction creates a perfect atmosphere of synthy trippiness that will have you lost in your thoughts. This album is packed full of groovy slow jams like “Lay it Down“ or “Set Free“. The only real uptempo, classic Junction sound comes from Night and Day. All that I will say about this album is that I can see how a previous fan of The Junction could have a hard time adjusting to this almost brand new band sound.

All in all, I enjoyed the album and I hope that The Junction continues to grow and manipulate their sound. I look forward to what the future holds for their journey as a band.