This is sweet, carefree balearic pop from an enigmatic duo known as jj. Released on the lovely Sincerely Yours label (leading some to incorrectly assume it was a side project for members of The Tough Alliance), it turns out jj is Joakim Benon and Elin Kastlander of Sweden (big surprise). I was excited for jj since I first heard of them, mostly because I like beachy things and all their promo art had blood spattered on it. Much to my surprise their debut full length was quietly released and then quickly leaked in July; plus, with a blood spattered pot leaf as the design, it was hard to pass up.
This is a pleasant album, perfect for summer days and lazing around doing nothing for hours. However, once Pitchfork hopped on the jj train they blew it out of the water and made me not want to post this album. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this, I stand by my contention that this album is pleasant, no more no less. There is nothing wrong with pleasant, but it’s not life-changing. It’s just two artists with a quaint, deliberate vision, and that I think explains the surge in positive reception. It’s a work of unassuming beauty which caught the music world off guard with an understated sound that communicates so much with so little. Perhaps the recent popularity of bands such as jj and Honey Power faves the xx suggests an appreciation for a new aesthetic tendency in indie music, one that strips down sound for the sake of concept, content with the simple mantra, “less is more.” Fittingly, they are set to tour the US this spring with said artistic doppelgangers the xx. Be sure to grab their next LP, n° 3, out March 9th on Secretly Canadian (yes, jj are moving up in the world).
