Biography
Since emerging in 2003, the Canadian duo Junior Boys have stood apart through their blend of close, occasionally solitary electronic pop drawn from an ever-widening range of influences. Elements such as arty synth pop, post-disco R&B, 2-step garage, and minimal techno represent only a portion of the styles they have reframed. Critics quickly embraced the pair, and their debut album Last Exit (2004) earned praise across many outlets, paving the path for wider recognition and sales with the Polaris Music Prize-nominated follow-up So This Is Goodbye (2006). Subsequent entries placed inside the Top Ten of Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart: Begone Dull Care (2009), It’s All True (2011), and Big Black Coat (2016). Their sixth album, Waiting Game (2022), a collection of largely ambient ballads issued prior to a 20th anniversary tour, again upended expectations.
The project began in 1999 when Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark divided responsibilities. Working from Hamilton, Ontario, the pair recorded a demo that mixed underground and mainstream sources yet drew no immediate interest, prompting them to set the Junior Boys name aside. Former Warp Records staffer Nick Kilroy later encountered the material and launched the KIN label expressly to sign them. By then Dark had committed to his day job, although he later issued solo work and formed half of Stereo Image. Greenspan revived the project by teaming with longtime friend Matt Didemus. The two generated early buzz in 2003 via the 12" EPs Birthday and High Come Down, which paired older and newer tracks with remixes from Fennesz and Manitoba, the pre-Caribou alias of Ontario native Dan Snaith. Last Exit appeared on KIN in June 2004 and included both A-sides; Domino licensed it for the U.S. market and appended a bonus disc of B-sides and remixes. Numerous publications ranked the album among the year’s strongest releases.
From 2006 into the early 2010s, Greenspan and Didemus recorded for Domino at a measured pace, expanding their songwriting and production range. Their second album, So This Is Goodbye, featured a cover of “When No One Cares,” written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn for Frank Sinatra, plus a collaboration with Mouse on Mars’ Andi Toma. Upon its August 2006 release the set reached Billboard’s Independent, Heatseekers, and Dance/Electronic charts and later earned a 2007 Polaris Music Prize nomination. Carl Craig’s remix of the track “Like a Child” received a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording. The three-year interval before the next studio album was filled by Body Language Six, a commercial DJ mix for Get Physical Music spotlighting material from contemporaries such as Matthew Dear, Kelley Polar, and Johnny Dark’s Stereo Image. Begone Dull Care arrived in March/April 2009, at once the duo’s most energetic and understated work to date. June 2011 brought the smoother, more hook-driven It’s All True.
After allowing their Domino contract to lapse, Greenspan and Didemus focused on separate activities. Greenspan placed tracks on Dan Snaith’s Jiaolong label and worked extensively with Jessy Lanza, while Didemus issued several 12" singles as Diva and as one-third of N/Y/X. Eventually they assembled an album’s worth of Junior Boys recordings they judged too conventional and uninspired for release, yet their individual projects renewed their creative momentum. In February 2016 the pair returned with their fifth album, Big Black Coat, issued in Canada on Greenspan’s Geej imprint and elsewhere on City Slang. Despite the five-year gap, the release landed on Billboard charts at roughly the same levels as their prior three albums. Japanese art-pop and early Chicago house influences shaped the record and extended to its cover of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do for Love.” Lyrics for several originals drew from conversations Greenspan held with male patrons at his Hamilton bar.
Although Didemus had moved to Berlin, leaving the members on separate continents, they paused activity for several years. Greenspan maintained his partnership with Lanza on her later albums, opened a local recording studio, and continued co-owning the bar. In early 2020 Didemus spent a few weeks in Hamilton, where the pair began developing fresh material. After his return to Germany, Greenspan completed writing and recording Waiting Game, an atmospheric collection issued in October 2022. The following year Junior Boys embarked on a 20th anniversary tour.
The project began in 1999 when Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark divided responsibilities. Working from Hamilton, Ontario, the pair recorded a demo that mixed underground and mainstream sources yet drew no immediate interest, prompting them to set the Junior Boys name aside. Former Warp Records staffer Nick Kilroy later encountered the material and launched the KIN label expressly to sign them. By then Dark had committed to his day job, although he later issued solo work and formed half of Stereo Image. Greenspan revived the project by teaming with longtime friend Matt Didemus. The two generated early buzz in 2003 via the 12" EPs Birthday and High Come Down, which paired older and newer tracks with remixes from Fennesz and Manitoba, the pre-Caribou alias of Ontario native Dan Snaith. Last Exit appeared on KIN in June 2004 and included both A-sides; Domino licensed it for the U.S. market and appended a bonus disc of B-sides and remixes. Numerous publications ranked the album among the year’s strongest releases.
From 2006 into the early 2010s, Greenspan and Didemus recorded for Domino at a measured pace, expanding their songwriting and production range. Their second album, So This Is Goodbye, featured a cover of “When No One Cares,” written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn for Frank Sinatra, plus a collaboration with Mouse on Mars’ Andi Toma. Upon its August 2006 release the set reached Billboard’s Independent, Heatseekers, and Dance/Electronic charts and later earned a 2007 Polaris Music Prize nomination. Carl Craig’s remix of the track “Like a Child” received a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording. The three-year interval before the next studio album was filled by Body Language Six, a commercial DJ mix for Get Physical Music spotlighting material from contemporaries such as Matthew Dear, Kelley Polar, and Johnny Dark’s Stereo Image. Begone Dull Care arrived in March/April 2009, at once the duo’s most energetic and understated work to date. June 2011 brought the smoother, more hook-driven It’s All True.
After allowing their Domino contract to lapse, Greenspan and Didemus focused on separate activities. Greenspan placed tracks on Dan Snaith’s Jiaolong label and worked extensively with Jessy Lanza, while Didemus issued several 12" singles as Diva and as one-third of N/Y/X. Eventually they assembled an album’s worth of Junior Boys recordings they judged too conventional and uninspired for release, yet their individual projects renewed their creative momentum. In February 2016 the pair returned with their fifth album, Big Black Coat, issued in Canada on Greenspan’s Geej imprint and elsewhere on City Slang. Despite the five-year gap, the release landed on Billboard charts at roughly the same levels as their prior three albums. Japanese art-pop and early Chicago house influences shaped the record and extended to its cover of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do for Love.” Lyrics for several originals drew from conversations Greenspan held with male patrons at his Hamilton bar.
Although Didemus had moved to Berlin, leaving the members on separate continents, they paused activity for several years. Greenspan maintained his partnership with Lanza on her later albums, opened a local recording studio, and continued co-owning the bar. In early 2020 Didemus spent a few weeks in Hamilton, where the pair began developing fresh material. After his return to Germany, Greenspan completed writing and recording Waiting Game, an atmospheric collection issued in October 2022. The following year Junior Boys embarked on a 20th anniversary tour.
Albums
Waiting Game
2022
Big Black Coat
2016
Even Truer
2013
It's All True
2011
Begone Dull Care
2009
Hazel
2009
So This Is Goodbye
2007
The Dead Horse EP
2007
In The Morning
2006
Last Exit
2004
Singles
