Returning Juvenile - Leaving

Hear The Track Here

If you have been following these review (yes some people do), you will have noticed that - once a month - I take a pick from Popspace's Chris Bishop to review. You will also be aware that this man really knows how to pick them because, so far, I've pretty much backed every call he has made. Even so, looks like this month even Chris has outdone his usual excellent style and delivered something truly different. The difference in this case being Returning Juvenile, a 2 peice outfit from Australia. Yeah, so what, you say. Damn internet is infested with Australian musicians, what makes Returning Juvenile that special? Well, I'd say that both members of this outfit being the tender age of  fourteen would make them a little bit different, wouldn't you?

The first thing that struck me was how professional their sound is, for sure this is no bedroom production jobbie - this kind of quality can only come from a professional recording studio. The second thing that struck me is how talented these two are; great voices and a very, very decent pop rock song into the bargain. OK, it has to be said that it is just a bit on the sweet side, partly to do with the clear, almost angelic vocals and partly to do with the style and tenor of the song itself. It is, after all, almost a pop rock ballad and you know that ballads and I don't get on too well.

Nonetheless, not even my countless predjudices can hold sway when the track presented is of such high quality. It wasn't until I sat down and started to write the review that I got some answers to how two 14 year old guys could sound so good. The answer lies in two words, a name that many of you are already familiar with, David Pendragon. He was the guiding hand at The Studio in Canberra where this track was made. Moreover two of Pendragon's excellent tribe World Ensemble, Donovan Gail and Jukka Malburg, supplied the drums and bass. However, even such heavyweight Indie names as those wouldn't make much difference if Returning Juvenile couldn't deliver their own part, and - as the Australians would have it - no worries on that score. Class song, class arrangement and great production values

Highly Recommended pop rock.