http://www.juniorsenior.com/

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There's really nothing good on. Put down the remote control and peel yourself off the Lazy Boy. Entertain yourself the way people use to before TV ... pu-pu-put a record on and move your feet to the new pop dance oddballs on the scene, Junior Senior.

The Danish duo Jesper Mortensen [Junior] and Jeppe Laursen [Senior] came together in 1998 in the rural city Jutland, Denmark... the Land of Contrasts. Coincidently, you might say the same to describe Junior and Senior. To visualize the contrast in physical appearance, think Raj and Rerun. Sexual preference, think Will and Grace. On stage, think David Cassidy and a Spartan cheerleader. Junior is skinny, heterosexual and clean-shaven. He can sing, play instruments and co-produced the band's album. Senior is chubby, homosexual, moustached and always sporting kooky multi-colored visors. He can sing too, but specializes in hand clapping. Surprisingly, when these opposing ends come together, they make perfect sense. The Junior Senior dynamic sparks from their very interaction.

Junior Senior fuse elements of pop, funk, disco, indie, hip-hop and garage rock. "It's a mixture of a lot of things," Laursen explained in a recent interview with MTV.com. "You could say '50s rock and roll, '60s soul, '70s punk, '80s old-school rap, hip-hop. But it's a lot more than that." Junior Senior have been described as an eclectic concoction of the B-52s, Run DMC, The Cramps, Michael Jackson and the Ramones. Their musical tastes are all over the dial from NWA to Dolly Parton to the Everly Brothers. "We don't come from a certain musical background so we're quite anarchistic and look at music in an anarchistic way. We do a lot of things that people wouldn't normally think of doing." [mtv.com]

Junior Senior are signed with Crunchy Frog Recordings who declare, "If we took the bones out it wouldn't be crunchy!" This label is probably the last "do it for the right reasons" label. Their website states, "The philosophy and ambition is still the same: to release quality music in the area of alternative pop and rock under the conditions of full creative control for the bands." In 2002, Crunchy released Junior Senior's debut D-D-Don't Don't Stop The Beat. In 2003, the EP Boy Meets Girl came out with five songs, seven videos and nearly all the same material as the full-length. Their single "Move Your Feet" tore up the UK charts and was one of the top five best selling singles. They conquered Europe and the next thing was undoubtedly the U.S.

Atlantic Records caught wind of the super duo. Junior Senior, Crunchy and Atlantic signed a license deal to bring the boys over. On the band's site, Laursen confessed, "It is a bit scary being on Atlantic with their amazing back catalogue ... so it is kind of hard to walk in those Atlantic shoes ... but still cool and we'll do our best or I'll just shit in my jeans."

"We never imagined this would happen," Mortensen added. "You know, we come from little Denmark ... and just watching TV and dreaming about New York and London, how great they must be. So yeah ... it's little bit like living a dream." [mtv.com]

With their hip-hop glam, funky beats and disco stylings, Junior Senior will surely keep us turned on. Stay tuned for more at 11... now, back to your regularly scheduled program. "Are you tired of unsightly veins and unwanted body hair..." [click]

-Amy Schaefer
07.25.2003