Residing in New Orleans, the Junior League is basically a one-man band conceived by Joe Adragna. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been quite prolific for the past decade and Adventureland, his current offering from Kool Kat Musik, marks Adragna’s seventh full-length studio album released as the Junior League.
Punching in at under half an hour in length, Adventureland reels and rumbles with high-octane pop rock that gets the blood boiling and the butt shaking.
Spotlighting certain songs on Adventureland is practically impossible, because each track is so catchy and memorable. It is really no exaggeration to say this is a flawless album at every angle.
The guitars are especially amazing. Whether the riffs are thumping and pumping, buzzing and fuzzing, or jingling and jangling, the sound is absolutely fantastic and zooms right out of the speakers, into your ears and straight down to your toes.
Hefty vocals conveying a garage-punk vibe navigate the tightly wrapped songs with intent and intuition. The hooks are strong and snappy, and there’s also some neat choruses infused in the pot. Killer keyboards provide an extra shot of zing to the show as well.
The Junior League’s aptly titled “Heavy” pulses with driving rhythms in first-rate hard rock form, while “Falling in Love” starts off by pickpocketing a couple of chords from “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies before turning into its own wad of bubble-gummy brilliance.
Classic power-pop moves guide “The Queen of the Dead” to towering heights, and “Have Faith in Yourself” flourishes with muscle, melody and a bit of an art-rock feel.
The influence of an assortment of bands ranging from the Sonics to the Troggs to Ram Jam to the Knack to the Fleshtones aren’t difficult to detect on Adventureland. But by breathing fresh air into the songs, the Junior League makes vintage genres new again. Here’s an album all good rockers should add to their collections.
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