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...

100

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 >

The Onion (A.V. Club)

These songs are complicated robots.

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 >

Drawer B

This is dance music with unquestionable soul.

Read Full Review >

The Phoenix

You can’t ask for much more from a sophomore album.

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]

BBC collective

Heartfelt but sometimes overly polite.

Read Full Review >

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 >

The Guardian

A pretty, if sterile, album.

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.

Music

Upcoming &Recent Releases

So This Is Goodbye

Album Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases