June preview

June
House Of Blues, Chicago
Friday, August 17, 2007

Baby steps. Chicago-area pop punk upcomers June made a snappy, if predictably safe debut album in If You Speak Any Faster (Victory), but while their mothers could pick them out of an emo police lineup, the rest of us do not have it so easy. Thankfully, June have reacted accordingly on their sophomore album.

Make It Blur isn’t OK Computer for the Myspace generation, though it’s obvious June have decided against standing pat. Opener “No Time For Sense” nods briefly to spooky Beach Boys intros of the late ’60s, before charging with an agitated chord figure that’s eventually complemented by an incisive string arrangement. “Finally” swaps out an unmemorable verse pattern for a sly reggae hook, and “Just Don’t Let Go” wraps its verses up in the comfort of what sounds like a Hammond organ.

There are moments when Blur sounds more designed than written (the boy-band dynamics of “I’d Lose Myself) and tepid memories of June’s past resurface (“Closer” and a hidden track that warns “You don’t know whatcha got”). But this is only their second album — there’s a long way to go.

The Higher, The Graduate, 2*Sweet, and Driver Side Impact open.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly