Number (2026, Reissue)
Jejune is one of those bands that I was on board with from the get go, but also one that never really reached past a certain level for me. I never was into Garden Variety, so that's not why I bought Jejune's split 7" with them the moment it came into the record store. There was already scuttlebutt that they were going to be doing a split 7" with Jimmy Eat World and such was the power of Static Prevails that the thought was any band on the other side of a split with them must be worthwhile.
So the Garden Variety split 7" was purchased and Jejune's "Drive By Negly" proceeded to melt my brain. What a song. Just an incredibly perfect song and one that will always be my favorite Jejune song. Why it isn't on this album as a bonus track or as part of a lavish Numero box set or at least on a lousy singles comp, I'll never know. But to say that song set expectations high for the impending release of Junk is the understatement of the 90s. My expectations were so high that in hindsight, they couldn't have possibly been met.
Junk is a very good album. It contains great songs. It contains no songs that I like as much as "Drive By Negly" and I think because of that, I always viewed this album and its follow up as disappointments. Which really isn't fair. "Meteorite" is a fuzzed out blast of hooky guitar riffs, perfectly timed melodic breakdowns and syrupy sweet harmonies. It's the kind of song you might be inclined to call perfect if not for "Drive By Negly" taunting you from the distance.
Throughout the albums eight songs, we have slower tracks that lean into the emo tag a bit more, we have other chunky guitar punk songs and catchy pop ones that sit right in the middle of those. It's a wonderfully diverse album for its criminally short eight song length. Which may be another issue I've had over the years, it felt too short. Add on two more songs (one of them could even be from a certain aforementioned split 7") and you've got a stew going.
But all warped perspectives aside, this is a strong record and one that has aged much better than releases by many of their contemporaries. As usual, the Numero reissue is the tops of the top notch, but again this probably should have been a box set with all of Jejune's bits and bobs compiled and documented the way they deserve to be. Also, "Drive By Negly" is a really great song.
Jejune - Junk:
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