Flowers For Juno – I go to strip clubs but just for the music

Flowers For Juno – I go to strip clubs but just for the music – Single Review

Mmm hmm…and I used to read Playboy just for the articles.

There are so many things to dig about the music being made in Flowers For Juno, and you’ve already seen evidence to support how much I’ve been into what I’ve been hearing from this project, as recently as a couple weeks back when reviewing the single for “Dolphin Girl,” a song that appears in this set as well.  The music has been great so far, and I’ve had little to nothing to complain about…at least, so far!

It is however, my job to bring people back in off the ledge when they’re getting a little too far out there, and I dunno…I might have to do that a little bit this time around.  Do I like the sound and atmosphere of “I go to strip clubs but just for the music?”  I sure as hell do!  Do I think the vocals were the right fit for this particular tune?  Hell no!  So I ended up feeling like this main cut of the three had some solid stuff goin’ on, but also some elements that didn’t work for me as well.  I mean, if I’m being entirely honest with ya, I’d still listen to a track like “I go to strip clubs but just for the music,” and I’ll take it as it is now – but…yeah…just being as objective as I can – the vocals didn’t do it for me here.  Everything is is a huge, undeniable win, and so when I get to this one questionable aspect in anything I’d be listening to, it usually comes down to a case of ‘does this fragment of the song make it stronger, or not?’  And when I’m not 100% sure about that, I know what that essentially means.  I look at it this way – if we’re not completely and totally sure that something is adding to the music we’re listening to, then it’s more than likely to be taking something away.  To be fair to Flowers For Juno, I don’t know that I’d go that far and say the vocals are taking anything away too significantly here, but it was equally tough for me to argue that they were adding anything this time around.  The low grumble is an interesting choice, but if we’re talking about what gets me interested and excited to listen to “I go to strip clubs but just for the music,” I’d be telling you about everything else swirling about in the kaleidoscopic kickassery of the sound.  This cut has an outright fascinating and hypnotic vibe to it that I genuinely couldn’t get enough of in the music…the spoken words samples added in were an excellent final twist as well – it has plenty of valid positives, and just one part of the song that happens to be in the center of the spotlight that didn’t quite feel like it was the right fit to me.  If you dig it, then right on – you’ll get a high five from me.  Do I think there might have been a different approach that could have complemented the music better?  Yes I do.

Like, take how the vocals came out in “Dolphin Girl” for example…that’s solid stuff from my perspective.  It might still be fairly impossible to know what singer Benjó is singing about, but that’s alright – the melody is still intact, and I felt like he was really adding to the song overall, whereas it just felt tougher to justify what he’s doing on “I go to strip clubs but just for the music” as the right piece to the puzzle, that’s all.  You can check out my original thoughts on “Dolphin Girl” by clicking here, but suffice it to say for now, I’m a huge fan of this song and felt like it was a real case of uniqueness & creativity in harmony.

In the case of this three-track single, you’ll find me advocating most for “louisekeeble.jpg” – because this cut is pretty damn cool to me…or…at least the first half is…but we’ll get to that.  When it started up with its instrumental opening, I immediately felt like I seem to always feel when listening to Flowers For Juno, and that’s simply wondering if I can drill another hole in my face to somehow get MORE of this sound into me.  “louisekeeble.jpg” is more than happy to slide right into that melted tape in the sun type of sound I love so much, and everything immediately felt like it was in the perfect spot, contributing to the larger picture.  Think of it almost like…something along the lines of Boards Of Canada, but with more energy in the mix for ya.  Similar vibe, but still a totally different end result…and honestly, it’s kind of cool to me that the two sounds are probably closer cousins than we’d normally realize until comparing them directly together.  Anyhow…that’s quality company to be keeping as far as my ears are concerned, so to hear “louisekeeble.jpg” come out with such a stellar mix of enticing, interesting, and endearing sound to its melody and musical spirit, felt like a decisive win for Flowers For Juno to me.  Now, where this track gets a lot trickier to examine, is that Benjó is pulling the old trick of the extra track from your CD or tape collection from back in the day, and you basically get another cut to listen to before this is all over.  With about two and a quarter-minutes left, Flowers For Juno shifts gears MASSIVELY to a grizzly underground Goth-Punk sound that’ll put hair on your chest and scare the beard off your face at the very same time.  Is it the extra track I needed?  No – but in standing with the typical standards in that regard, the extra rarely if ever has been.  Is it the extra track I deserve?  Maybe.  I’ve done some things in this lifetime that have earned this moment of pure sonic rage coming at me in a wildly muted way.  It IS interesting to me…I’ll give’em that…but it’s also miles removed from what’s had me so jazzed about Flowers For Juno to this point too.  On the one hand, I like things that are different, unpredictable and unexpected…on the other hand, a curve ball like this is intended to throw you off more than invite you in.  The second part of “louisekeeble.jpg” is intentionally challenging…but I’m not so sure that it worked.

So…where does that leave us?  There’s always something intriguing to be found in what Flowers For Juno is doing with their music, so there’s that.  If I had to pick which of the three tracks I liked best in this short set?  It’s still gonna be the track I knew best going into this – “Dolphin Girl.”  So that’s something to consider.  The other two cuts have their moments and they still highlight the remarkable shape-shifting sound of Flowers For Juno, but it’s equally fair to say they still left me wanting a bit more too.  What I continue to love about the music is that Benjó and his crew always seem willing to explore their sound all the way out to the fringe & back again, and ultimately in the long run, that’s going to be a massive benefit to the whole artistic side of their sonic creativity.

Find out more about Flowers For Juno at their official page at Instagram here:  https://www.instagram.com/flowersforjuno

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