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So This Is Goodbye

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 33 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Domino
Release Date: 12 September 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic
Summary
This is the second album for the acclaimed Canadian electronica outfit led by Jeremy Greenspan.
Also By This Artist: Begone Dull Care Last Exit
Also On The Web: Junior Boys @ MySpace Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Stylus Magazine
Where Last Exit was indebted to the clubbier side of dance pop--with its tendency to wind songs around Dark’s close-clipped beats--So This Is Goodbye is a post-aught pop record first and foremost, an elegant, spacious collection of flash-frozen R&B and soft disco laments.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
The icy qualities of Last Exit's synths are retained, but the old minimalism is certainly gone, and enough real warmth buoys these productions that songcraft actually develops.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
One moment I feel like I am listening to Underworld's frantic blast combined with the Blue Nile's slowly evolving elegance, the next it could be The Pet Shop Boys' sailing in the slip stream of Depeche Mode. I can't nail down the sound beyond the fact that it's breathtaking.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
So This Is Goodbye isn't just an improbable notch above 2004's Last Exit-- it's also among the best records you'll hear all year.
Read Full Review >Filter
As on 2004's Last Exit, their arrangements are deftly drawn, precisely executed and drenched in pretense-free pop. [#22, p.96]
cokemachineglow
While This is Goodbye does suffer, like Last Exit, from being a little too consistent (there’s very little variation in tempo or arrangement, or theme for that matter), it's as cohesive a listening experience as almost any album I’ve heard this year.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
Even more engaging than their debut, So This Is Goodbye is another amazing album from Junior Boys, and one of the better releases of the year.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
Furnished with seductive melodies, dry beats, translucent tonality and a variety of bouncing electronic arpeggios, So This Is Goodbye is filled with pure synth-pop oxygen.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
So This is Goodbye is even more measured and meticulous than Last Exit, but so skilled a songwriting team Greenspan and Didemus have become, that every carefully-planned note packs a wallop, the starkness continuing to masterfully mask some of the most soulful Canadian music to come out in years.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus depart completely from 2-step and late-'90s Timbaland twitter, polishing their sound to such an extent that absolutely no detectable scuffs are left.
Read Full Review >Urb
Electronic pop rarely sounds this beautiful and human. [Sep 2006, p.136]
Billboard
This release is comparable to 2004's stunning "Last Exit" in that every song has its own merits yet feels part of a greater whole.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Here Greenspan takes a more direct approach, showcasing his feel for melody and melancholy to brilliant effect. [Oct 2006, p.125]
Prefix Magazine
So This Is Goodbye displays an impressive maturation on the part of Junior Boys leading man Jamie Greenspan.
Read Full Review >Vibe
The Boys make earnest, delicate and occasionally gloomy synth-pop, but they want the pain to be danceable. [Nov 2006, p.161]
Tiny Mix Tapes
In the end, Junior Boys' improved skills at constructing pop songs within their fantastic sonic template is more than enough to make So This Is Goodbye one of my favorite releases of 2006 so far.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
The results may not be as jarring as its predecessor - the excitement of their original experimentation is gone - but ultimately they’re more satisfying, indicative of a duo much more comfortable with their vision.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
In the 1980s, artists such as Bronski Beat and David Sylvian used a similar sonic palette. But there's a distance to Greenspan's perfectly constructed grooves and well-modulated lyrics that falls somewhere between ironic and mournful.
Read Full Review >Uncut
It's a beautiful record. [Oct 2006, p.112]
Village Voice
Junior Boys' brand of synthpop can't help sounding rooted in the '80s, and with Scritti Politti and thePet Shop Boys recently resurfacing to scratch the same itch, there may be no burning need for what Manitobans Jeremy Greenspan and Matthew Didemus do. Which doesn't mean they don't do it well.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
The Boys are still presenting themselves as an emotionally sensitive duo, but the smoothness pulls the urgency out of some of their problems.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
So This is Goodbye often proves too single-mindedly hip and aloof for it’s own good. [#15]
Mojo
Much will be familiar to JBs devotees... but this time their MOR predilections are more pronounced. [Oct 2006, p.100]
Drowned In Sound
So This is Goodbye is the perfect example of how aiming for perfection in music can end in alienation.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
There are snoozers like the title track... but there are also pretty, narcotically alluring cuts like "FM." [21 Sep 2006, p.86]
Playlouder
The sonic palette here is just so relentlessly perfect that, for me, it becomes constricting and cloying.
Read Full Review >Spin
Greenspan turns the pathos of 2004's Last Exit into nearly intolerable bathos, with the beats now noticeably dragging. [Oct 2006, p.98]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Lee B. gave it a10:
Simply an amazing record. Top to bottom the record shines. Definitely the best record of 2006, without a doubt in my mind. The songs are tremendous in both their subtleties and minimalistic change, and Greenspan's vocals just hit you where it hurts. Truly beautiful, a must buy.
Mycroft W. gave it a10:
No doubt, if you buy one record from 2006, make sure it's this one
bobby k gave it a9:
Syth-pop perfection. An aside: why Spin is still considered relevant, especially on Metacritic is beyond me.
R G gave it a9:
i read somewhere that this is just a hipper postal service. it is true in some sense but its just tunes from the 80s that always delivers a good time for ppl in the new millenium looking to groove to something with a lot of heart. all the songs flow well into each other and even though the beats are pronounced they are subtle in the way they shift with layers.
junior boy gave it a10:
one of the best albums of the year. music for people who understand music. simply put... brilliant
John C gave it a9:
One of my favorites in a not so hot year.
jason gave it a2:
This genre is just not catching on. Afew listens and it'll be in resale bins across the planet. Last Exit was the same. Acouple steps and some neat sounds, but collecting dust after a month....don't make the same mistake and save your money this time.
