December 26th, 2013 
Brian Leak 
Artist: Circa Survive
Album: Juturna
Label: Equal Vision Records
Original release date: June 20, 2005
After Anthony Green’s upsetting departure from Saosin, I immediately began to follow his every move, and because of that, in 2005, Juturna became the first CD I ever pre-ordered. I had listened to The Inuit Sessions a thousand times since its release in the 3 months preceding Juturna‘s, and based on those first 4 glorious tracks released by Circa Survive, I just knew that Juturna was going to be an album I had to own.
Over 8 years later, here I am with a fresh copy of said album on vinyl and I’m happy to say that Juturna still holds up with its quality musicianship, innovative songwriting, and Green’s signature vocal prowess that made it the exciting release that it was from the start. The many references to Michel Gondry’s highly acclaimed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind continue to add to its virtue, too, of course.
Pressing Info
This particular pressing of Juturna is the third pressing, limited to 1,000 copies, and pressed on standard weight wax unlike some of the other recent Circa Survive reissues that were 180G. It’s the Hot Topic exclusive variant which sold out in less than two hours’ time once put online for sale on December 19, 2013. The album was priced at $19.99 and is labeled as an “orange marble,” but I’d say that that simple description doesn’t quite do it justice.
Packaging & Presentation
Anyone familiar with Circa Survive’s discography will know that their longtime artist Esao Andrews’ work is always something to admire. Fans are in awe of what Andrews brings to the table for the visual portions of Circa’s every release. Guitarist Colin Frangicetto once told us, “At this point, [Esao’s] practically a member of the band in a way that his contributions are so crucial and so important and represents the band visually.”
The artwork for this pressing of Juturna is the same as the initial 2005 CD release that you can see in the feature image of this review. It’s still great to look at even 8 years later. The one-page (front/back) lyric sheet insert has one additional strip of artwork as well. The album’s jacket is rather standard with a light glossy finish. I was really hoping for a gatefold jacket as Juturna feels like an album that deserves a far more expansive presentation with Andrews’ beloved art on full display.
The album itself is beautiful. As stated before, it’s labeled on the packaging as “orange marble” but I’d say it’s a lot more than that would initially suggest. In person it looks more like a full sunburst; orange and yellow flames swirling amongst themselves. I also realized that the album is somewhat translucent which I discovered once it was placed on my AGBPOL pizza slipmat.
Sound Quality
This pressing of Juturna is crystal clear, as you would hope. Classics like “Holding Someone’s Hair Back,” In Fear And Faith,” and “The Great Golden Baby” sound as good as ever. I haven’t actually heard the previous vinyl releases of Juturna for comparison but I can’t imagine them sounding any better than this. The Roman goddess of fountains herself would be proud.
Wrap-Up
To me, Juturna always felt like a masterpiece in this scene and remains my favorite Circa Survive album to this day. I intentionally passed on snagging the red variant that was released shortly before this HT exclusive via Equal Vision Records for simple reasons. First, I have too many red records and I enjoy balance. Second, I had already read the HT release details and knew that theirs would be slightly less expensive. In the end, I’m very happy with my choice as the variant is far more appealing than they even led on and I’m just ecstatic to own a copy regardless of what it looks like. As much as I love Circa Survive, I just couldn’t bring myself to pay the exorbitant eBay prices for an earlier pressing.
For those that missed out on getting one of these copies, I would suggest searching them out sooner than later via eBay, Vinyl Collective, etc. as they will inevitably and exponentially inflate in price quickly over time just as all of their releases have.
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- Front Cover
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- Back Cover
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- Insert (side one)
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- Insert (side two)
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- Translucence example
Review written by: Brian Lion — (Follow him on Twitter)
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Had one in my cart for the Equal Vision, band store, AND Hot Topic releases and every time when I clicked the finalize button they’d already sold out. Super pissed / bummed out about that.
Same exact thing happened to me from Circa’s store, Topspin, when they first announced them. Had this, OLG, and The Inuit Sessions in my cart and the page kept freezing. That’s why I ended up having to wait for this. I saw a lot of comments from people that had that same problem, It’s crazy that all three runs sold out that fast. Sorry you weren’t able to get a copy!
It’s alright, thanks man! I pretty much expected it since people crap their pants about anything Circa. I’ll just have to bite the bullet and pay $60 on ebay lol
Very true. Like I said, if you’re going to, do it sooner than later because they’ll get pricier. I’d imagine they’ll reissue a 10th anniversary edition in 2015 too at least lol.
What’s the best/easiest way to keep up with vinyl releases, in your opinion? I was looking at The Vinyl Collective calendar and they haven’t kept up with is since 2012.
We actually just started a weekly feature that updates readers with pre-orders and releases every Saturday but sites like Modern Vinyl and Sly Vinyl are really good about timeliness. If you’re a Twitter user I’d suggest following sites like that.
http://modern-vinyl.com/calendar/
Perfect recommendation, exactly what I was looking for.
Happy to help.