You knew what type of crowd you were hanging out with just by the dialogue exchanged with a taxi driver waiting at a traffic light:

Cabbie: Excuse me?just out of curiosity, what?s the line for?
Patron: It?s an in-store performance for a band?a small band?Junior Boys?
(silence)
Patron: They?re a small band?tiny band?
(more silence)
Patron: You?d have to shop here.

Probably the thing that made me laugh the most was listening to this guy behind me fishing for ways to tell the cabbie that he couldn?t possibly know who Junior Boys were. Quite frankly, heads that are all about the underground don?t know who they are. They?re currently on a North American tour with Mouse on Mars (an absolute favorite of mine), so hopefully that will change soon. Their new album called Last Exit was released earlier this year on the Kin label in the UK and was just released domestically on Domino. It?s extremely engaging pop music tying in a number of different influences, on some New Order meets Timbaland kinda steez ? very cool. And seeing as how I?m poor, a free in-store at Other Music was the only way I was gonna be able to see these guys play.

Junior Boys is made up of two men: Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus. Jeremy?s the singer and songwriter while Matt keeps himself busy on the keyboards. Occasionally they trade places on basses and guitars rigged up through a various assortment of pedals and effects. I was already smiling because once inside the store, I saw my friend Ezekiel?s album stocked on the shelf. Even stranger, Jeremy is what Ezekiel might look like with longer hair, about 15-20 extra pounds, and a scruffy beard. Junior Boys are unassuming blokes, though, and after inviting us to come closer to their setup, they performed several songs from their album and engaged in some witty banter in between selections.

?We played to about 600 people last night, yet this is so much more nerve-racking,? Jeremy uttered to light laughter from the audience. He then motioned to his partner behind the synths and said, ?Poor Matt ? he looks positively bored back there. Supposedly, the more bored you look, the more intense your performance.? He also admitted to window shopping while he was performing because it was such a great store. I don?t blame him ? I?ve dropped enough dollars that I didn?t have in that place on many an occasion. ?Anybody here buy the new Mouse On Mars album ? show of applause?? A scant few of us applauded and cheered. ?Well, we?re on tour with them, unfortunately, but the album?s pretty good, so you should definitely pick that one up?even though we don?t really like them as people.? Of course, everybody cracked up after that, to which Jeremy added, ?They?re all here tonight, by the way.?

After four songs, they definitely left us wanting. Some heads went to talk to them after their set, others headed towards the register to pick up a copy of the album. After seeing them perform a few tracks from it, Last Exit has definitely been placed on the must have list. If you do nothing else, stop by their website and listen to a few tunes.