Juniore – In Concert at Route du Rock, 2017 – April 22, 2017 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Juniore in concert from last years Route du Rock festival on April 22, 2017. While I’m waiting for the dust to settle from the Fuji Music Festival, underway right now and running some out-of-the-way Japanese rock that everyone needs to check out, I thought I would toss this Juniore concert into the mix.
Juniore is a French indie pop band formed in Paris in 2013. The group is led by singer/songwriter Anna Jean,daughter of French writer J.M.G. Le Clézio.The band’s musical style is influenced by the music of the 1960s; the website AllMusic describes their music as mixing “modern indie pop sensibilities with elements of retro French pop, dark, twangy surf guitar, and a vocal style that falls somewhere between Cat Power and Françoise Hardy.” Jean had previously appeared in the duo Domingo and featured on the Bot’Ox track “Blue Steel”.The band’s debut album, Ouh là là, is released on Le Phonographe, a label that Jean founded with Samy Osta, who is also the producer of albums by La Femme and Feu! Chatterton.
With three singles, an appearance on a compilation album and their own studio album, produced last year, Juniore are poised for the next big thing to come out of France.
Before forming Juniore in 2013, Anna Jean collaborated with Samy Osta in an indie folk duo called Domingo, who released one LP in 2008. In the following years, her mysterious, sultry vocals would lead her to collaborations within the Parisian electro scene, appearing as a guest vocalist for artists like Jackson & His Computerband and Bot’Ox. Working again with Osta, she formed Juniore originally as a duo, later expanding into a quartet. Mixing modern indie pop sensibilities with elements of retro French pop, dark, twangy surf guitar, and a vocal style that falls somewhere between Cat Power and Françoise Hardy, Juniore released their debut 7″ single, “Christine” b/w “Dans le Noir,” in late 2013 on the Parisian Enterprise label. An Osta-produced full-length was slated to arrive in summer 2014.
