JUNE “Make It Blur”
JUNE is a competent group of musicians trying really hard to play catchy pop-rock music. They always have been. They always will be. For two albums now (and one EP before those), the band has failed to write encapsulating hooks, utilize duel vocals to their full potential, or generally write anything with character. Sure, Make It A Blur has its moments: “Tempter” has a nice little intro, “I’d Lose Myself” sounds like they’re aiming for ALL AMERICAN REJECTS territory, and “Sight For Sore Eyes” has the best vocal hook they have ever written. Very few strong moments aside, Make It Blur is just as weak as If You Speak Any Faster. The vocalists can not carry a song like the band they so obviously resemble, TAKING BACK SUNDAY, and the guitarists have tons of trouble simply keeping the songs afloat with their far-from-driving leads. In a sense, JUNE is kind of just there. In fact, it is so bad they had to resort to the vapid placement of string arrangements in the opening song. Finally, whereas If You Speak Any Faster at least had a decent production job courtesy of Brian McTernan, Make It Blur sounds like producer Marc McClusky (among other hit bands he has produced: POWERSPACE) tried incredibly hard to retain a level of roughness with the band’s music, ultimately making it fall incredibly flat as they have a sound that works well with a bit of polish. If there are any positives to be said with the JUNE boys, it’s that their approach seems genuine enough. That said, if JUNE was in a job interview, it’d be the guy who, faced with a task he knows he can’t perform, honestly says he’ll “try his best” when the employer is looking for someone with enough confidence or bullshitting skills to simply say he’ll “get it done.” Unfortunately, JUNE can not even bullshit its way through a simple pop-rock record.
Victory
