JEA-Report Rapenburg Concert

How on earth did they get there? Oh, that's right.......they won the talent-competition: 'het Talentenjacht'.
The day of the concert looks very promising: lovely weather, a great atmosphere and a beautiful venue. They start out a little later than planned due to some changes in program, but when the band gets upon stage and Ronnie takes a deep breath, the first notes of Slowly echo accross the canals of Leiden. The setlist includes: Can't get out, Heal me, Whatever Happened, Old Enough, Blinded By The Light (including a brilliant solo by Rob Verbakel), Before I Awake and Deeper & Deeper. Unfortunately there wasn't any time for Roses Are Grey.

Even though the organisation on Saturday isn't all that terrific, the band works really hard at giving a good performace, supported by sound engineer Rob and a second man on stage: they made it all happen, in spite of the circumstances.

A sight for sore eyes for the band: 500 or so people enjoying the show, half of them in the sun, the other half in the shadow. Thanks for being there again guys! This Saturday, Junior is playing a show at Dwergpop, at 2 pm. Who knows, Junior might play Roses Are Grey then. See you Saturday!

Review MusicMaker (August 2008)

'Pretend I got no voice, so writing this is my way to speak, pretend I am a raindrop but there are no clouds around, so who
drops me?' sings Ronnie Verton in the opening song Heal Me. Beautiful. The rest of the album is composed of musical and textual
climaxes. Think of Dave Matthews Band, but with content, an edge and honesty. Where many bands of this genre lose themselves in
conceitedness, or hide behind instrumental or productional tricks, Junior Eats Alone always keeps 'the feeling' within reach.
Behind every song hides something emotionally intangible that lets the heart of every pop-music lover pound faster and faster.

The arrangements are clever and well-balanced much like those of Dutch bands such as Coparck.
The album artwork is made to come accross as if you were in a restaurant: the tracklist is the menu, the bandmembers are the staff.
You can even find a couple of toothpicks inside the booklet.

The question remains: Isn't there anything wrong with this band?
The answer is no. Junior Eats Alone sets the bar higher for Dutch popbands, and does so in an astonishing fashion.
(Laurens van der Meulen)

3voor12 Review

The wonderful appetizer we received in 2007, when Junior Eats Alone's four-song albumpreview appeared, had whettened our appetite and given us great expectations. The recently released album: Love Will Slow Me Down is even more than we thought it would be.

The fourteen-track album is shaped like a restaurant. The tracklist is the menu (including entrees, main courses, desserts and wines) and the duration of the songs is the price of the platter in euro's. The bandmembers have different jobs (singer Ronnie Verton is the chef) and the cd is sold with a couple of toothpicks and some salt and pepper. The visual aspect of this album is very well taken care of and everything looks perfect.

Fortunately, an equal amount of care and attention was spent on the musical part of this album. Without any exceptions, all the songs are of a very high standard with 'Heal Me', 'Even Though' and 'Love Will Slow Me Down' as highlights.
Junior's music is often compared to the likes of Dave Matthews Band and Radiohead, and rightfully so, but somehow these comparisons don't quite say it all. The melancholic guitar-pop, which is probably the best way to describe it, switches from very fragile pop to very strong guitar-rock. Somehow, Junior Eats Alone never forgets to sound like Junior Eats Alone.

One of the special things about Junior Eats Alone is their brass-section. Henri de Mooij (trumpet), Daniel Follman (trombone) en Robert Bakker (saxophone) put that extra bit of shine into those songs. For that matter, it is a shame that the song 'Before I Awake' that was on the album preview, didn't make it onto Love Will Slow Me Down.

Album review OOR - Augustus 2008

GUITARPOP JUNIOR EATS ALONE LOVE WILL SLOW ME DOWN (DE MATENPLAATSCHAPPIJ)

Perhaps Junior Eats Alone reminds you of Dutch popact Racoon. That's okay because, after having listened to a couple of tracks on Love Will Slow Me Down, you will find that Junior is the bigger fish in this pond. The eight-man pop-orchestra creates dreamy songs with rough edges, from alternative rock to jazzy summer tunes. The fact that this record turned out as coherent as it did, should be attributed to the brass section: Henri de Mooij, Robert Bakker and Daniel Follman. They're the ones that make Junior sparkle. The group sounds as a whole on the beautiful title-track Love Will Slow Me Down.

Multi-talented Singer Ronnie Verton switches from cheerful and soulful singing (You Again) to sorrowful notes from the likes of Thom Yorke (Even Though). Managing to avoid schizophrenia, Ronnie sets the bar high with his singing.

Fortunately this record is full of surprising sound-eruptions as well, such as during Follow and Living Below: these prevent this fastflowing musical stream from becoming a calm brook. Love Will Slow Me Down is a sincere album that doesn't turn to 'sweet', not for a minute. MARK BOOMSMA

Q-bus podcast

Listen to the full concert at Q-bus (april 11 2008) here.

See the website of PROJECT 24 for more special concerts at Q-bus.