September 30th, 2009 
Chris Courtesy: Pitchfork
The mannered, well-dressed Canadian synthpoppers in the Junior Boys are not exactly the types to gargle fake blood onstage, but according to a recent press release, frontman Jeremy Greenspan has a love of Halloween that rivals that of Glenn Danzig. Greenspan loves Halloween so much, in fact, that he’s encouraging people to rock costumes at every show on their forthcoming North American tour, which will run through most of October and some of November. The group promises CDs and T-shirts as rewards for the best costumes.
Greenspan said, “Part of being a young Jewish kid to me was directing all of your excitement that should’ve been for Christmas towards Halloween. I was obsessed with Halloween as a kid, I waited for it impatiently, lamented it when it was over. All of my childhood obsessions with science fiction, horror stories, weird movies and strange music all seemed to converge at Halloween. I was particularly mesmerized by Halloween specials like Disney’s ‘The Skeleton Dance’ and ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’, and a television show produced in Hamilton [Ontario] called ‘The Hilarious House of Frightenstein’. Even my indoctrination into dance music came from older gothy friends of mine who seemed to see a direct continuation from the spooky sounds of Throbbing Gristle and Skinny Puppy to early 90s Detroit techno.”
He added, “When it came about that we would be touring around the release of our single called ‘Bits and Pieces’ during October, all sorts of Halloween fantasies started churning up in my mind. So although we couldn’t quite afford full on GWAR style theatrics, we are hoping that people come to the shows in a Halloween kinda mindset (and attire), and help us ring in Samhain all month long.”
About that single: “Bits and Pieces” will feature remixes from Modselektor and Prins Thomas and will be out in the coming months via Domino. There will also be a video directed by Stephanie Comilang. The Prins Thomas remix of “Work” can be downloaded here.
While you’re trying to get the image of Greenspan in a metal codpiece out of your head, here are those Junior Boys dates, including a few shows in Australia.
Junior Boys:
10-03 Melbourne, Australia – Birrarung Marr
10-04 Sydney, Australia – Kippax Lake
10-05 Adelaide, Australia – Botanical Gardens Of Adelaide
10-08 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Venue
10-09 Victoria, British Columbia – Sugar Nightclub
10-10 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey
10-11 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
10-13 San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine
10-14 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
10-17 Tucson, AZ – Plush
10-19 Austin, TX – The Mohawk
10-20 Houston, TX – Walter’s on Washington
10-21 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks
10-22 Tallahassee, FL – The Engine Room
10-23 Tampa, FL – Crowbar
10-24 Miami, FL – The Vagabond
10-26 Orlando, FL – The Social
10-27 St. Augustine, FL – Cafe Eleven
10-28 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
10-29 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
10-30 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
10-31 Brooklyn, NY – The Bell House
11-02 Cambridge, MA – Middle East Downstairs
11-03 Buffalo, NY – Big Orbit’s Soundlab
11-04 Montreal, Quebec – TBA
11-05 Ottawa, Ontario – TBA
11-06 Toronto, Ontario – TBA
11-07 Waterloo, Ontario – Starlight
11-08 Hamilton, Ontario – Rokbar
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